PressSplit
Education Senator Sascha Aulepp with Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte on the government bench. © dpa/Penning
The CDU’s motion of no confidence against Bremen’s education senator has failed. The CDU would have needed 44 votes to remove the senator. It received significantly fewer.
Bremen – Education Senator Sascha Aulepp (SPD) has survived the CDU parliamentary group’s motion of no confidence. In the secret vote on Monday afternoon, only 36 of the 85 members of parliament present voted for the CDU motion, 46 voted against it; there were also three abstentions. In the debate, the government factions of the SPD, Greens and Left Party as well as Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD) had previously backed Aulepp.
The CDU, on the other hand, called for a “fresh start in the education department,” which recently imposed a budget freeze – just a few weeks after the parliament’s budget decision. The CDU then requested a special session of the state parliament. It was also unacceptable that 1,300 children were not given a daycare place and the annual budget for energy costs had already been used up after just six months.
“Three years after you took office, Bremen continues to be one of the states with the weakest performance and has consistently been by far the last in many tests for years,” accused CDU parliamentary group leader Frank Imhoff Aulepp. “The performance of Bremen students in German, mathematics, science, reading, spelling and listening comprehension is well below the national average. This applies to both primary and secondary schools.”
700 young people “without reasonable future prospects”
“The example of Hamburg” has shown that it is possible to break such a “downward spiral” in city states. Bremen needs a “reversal” in education policy. “We believe that is not possible with you,” said Imhoff to Aulepp, who was following the debate on the government bench in the square directly next to Bovenschulte.
There she heard, among other things, Imhoff point out that last year eleven percent of girls and boys in Bremen left school without a qualification. That is 700 young people who “have no reasonable future prospects.” Imhoff: “Often that is the start of a citizen’s income career. That is not a socially just policy.”
Leader of the opposition: CDU parliamentary group leader Frank Imhoff during his speech at the special session of the state parliament. © dpa/Penning
Imhoff also addressed the shortage of staff. A total of 200 teachers are missing in Bremen and Bremerhaven for the new school year. “That equates to 5,000 teaching hours being lost per week,” continued the CDU parliamentary group leader. In short: “If you look at the entire balance sheet of your three years, then you have to say: We no longer believe in a turnaround in the education department. Leadership comes from leading and we don’t believe that you can lead.”
Greens: “Our trust is also a mandate”
Thore Schäck (FDP) and Jan Timke (Alliance Germany) also voiced criticism of education policy in Bremen. The SPD coalition partners, however, defended Aulepp. “It is no secret that we see a need for improvement in some areas,” said Henrike Müller (Greens). However, they want to go down this path “together with the Senator”: “We express our trust in her. We also see this trust as a mandate.” Sofia Leonidakis from the Left Party: “The CDU’s attempt to split the coalition is a failure.” There are “structural problems in education,” but: “I find it unbelievable to blame Sascha Aulepp personally.”
SPD parliamentary group leader Mustafa Güngör spoke of an “opposition crisis” in response to the motion of no confidence; the CDU and FDP were “doing a really terrible job”; the CDU motion was “pure show”, while Senator Aulepp was acting as an “advocate for the children”.
Senator Aulepp is committed to the “highest degree” under difficult conditions and does not shy away from conflicts – for example with trade unions and professional associations – said Mayor Bovenschulte. She is not to blame for the nationwide shortage of skilled workers. Aulepp has even managed to open “six new schools” with 60 new classes.
Comment on the topic:
Gungors gave the verdict in Wutrede
By Thomas Kuzaj
In the debate on Monday about the motion of no confidence by the opposition CDU against Education Senator Sascha Aulepp (SPD), one contribution in particular stood out – the contribution by SPD parliamentary group leader Mustafa Güngör. He did not talk about education policy or Senator Aulepp for about half of his speaking time, but instead devoted himself to the opposition. And how!
Güngör accused the FDP of – quote – “crazy amendments to the draft budget”. He accused the CDU of currying favor with the Alliance Germany party – with “proposals, inquiries and contributions to the debate” that “not only touch the line of right-wing populism, but in some parts clearly cross it”. The CDU is “cuddling up to the angry citizens”. And so on and so forth. Bremen does not have a government crisis, but “a real opposition crisis”. The CDU and FDP are “doing a really awful job”.
Güngör’s angry speech was particularly astonishing because right before him, CDU parliamentary group leader Frank Imhoff had done exactly what was expected of him: opposition work. Imhoff had presented the CDU’s arguments, one after the other, objectively and without any personal defamation of Senator Aulepp. You don’t have to believe these arguments are correct, but you also don’t have to dismiss the CDU’s actions as a “show” and verbally attack them like Güngör did. The CDU is not using the instrument of the motion of no confidence lavishly, but rather with caution.
In addition to the FDP, Alliance Germany also announced before the special session that it wanted to vote with the CDU. Güngör used this to accuse the CDU of right-wing populism. This is rhetorically crude and negligent, because it saves Güngör from having to engage in a substantive debate with those he really means, the right-wing populists.
Simply placing the CDU in their vicinity also seems like a clumsy election campaign maneuver. This behavior feeds into rejection reflexes and also gets applause, but it can’t seriously be the way the largest government faction deals with the largest opposition faction. Does Bremen have an “opposition crisis”? It’s more likely that Bremen’s SPD has a “faction leader crisis.”
