"In big cities we experience excesses of left-wing identity politics particularly strongly"

Around ten years ago, the Hamburg CDU gave itself a new basic program for the last time, at that time the end of its own term in government was only a year old. Since then, however, things have continued to go downhill, with the Christian Democrats only receiving 11.2 percent of the votes in the 2020 general election.

Under the leadership of the state chairman Christoph Ploß, the trend reversal should now succeed on a newly formulated basis. Ploß, who is often attested to be a particularly conservative course for a big city, wants to pull off the balancing act: get old voters back from the SPD and open up new groups with modern topics. A recent survey gives him momentum.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Your new basic program includes some CDU classics in a new guise. Do you see any surprises in terms of content?

Christoph Ploß: The prosperity of our city and the security of the citizens are very important to us. The CDU therefore stands for a successful economic policy and a credible and consistent domestic policy. In our basic program, however, we also place a strong emphasis on science policy, because we see in many regions of the world that the long-term success of a metropolis is closely linked to how much is invested in science and research.

Boston is an example of this, but it can also be observed in our neighborhood, for example in the Copenhagen/Malmö region. As the CDU, we are clearly committed to the fact that Hamburg needs to invest more in research and, above all, in the interlinking of science and business so that we can create new value.

WELT AM SONNTAG: More science funding should be in every election program in two years.

Ploß: The SPD and the Greens have done far too little in recent years, also compared to other cities in Germany. So it is important that you take it seriously, which is why it belongs in our basic program with this clarity. Another point that we want to advance: If the German healthcare system wants to help even more patients and defeat diseases, we have to make better use of the potential of digitization overall.

Unfortunately, the current data protection rules often prevent innovative solutions from being used, diagnoses from doctors being made in good time and all possible treatment methods being exhausted. Therefore, with our new basic program, we are also committed to data protection reform in the healthcare sector. Data must be shared securely and anonymously for the benefit of doctors and patients.

In Hamburg, for example, pharmacies, the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf or the Asklepios clinics could benefit from this. Scientists at Hamburg research institutes could develop new drugs against deadly diseases. Above all, more data protection pragmatism is also in the interests of the patients. This is so important because many lives could be saved if information such as previous illnesses or allergies were available to doctors in digital form in an emergency. I call on the SPD and the Greens to stop blocking a necessary data protection reform!

WELT AM SONNTAG: Climate policy is closely linked to scientific issues. What are you betting on here?

Ploß: We do not want to achieve environmental and climate protection through bans, patronage or ever more paternalism, but above all through a social market economy, new technologies and innovations. To give an example: We want flying to be climate-neutral in the future, for example by investing in climate-neutral fuels such as e-fuels.

This is a very, very important topic, especially for Hamburg as an aviation location. Not least, thousands of jobs depend on it. With the approach of the Hamburg CDU, we can not only achieve our climate protection goals, but also export our innovations and technologies to other countries. On the one hand, we can create jobs here and, on the other hand, we can make a contribution to the global fight against climate change. On the other hand, we will not be able to achieve the climate targets with a national effort to go it alone and a prohibition culture.

WELT AM SONNTAG: At the moment, however, we are experiencing a completely different way of countering climate change on the street to which climate activists are sticking themselves or in art galleries with damaged paintings. Apparently nobody there wants to wait for the development of technologies anymore.

Ploß: We are currently experiencing that human lives are being deliberately put at risk, for example by blocking roads so that ambulances cannot pass. At the same time, there is a great deal of understanding for this radicalization among the Greens, parts of the SPD and especially the Left Party. This strengthens these radical forces even further. We are also sending a clear signal in the new basic program: No more misunderstood tolerance of criminal offenses! We need consistent action by the police and finally a clear condemnation of these criminal actions from the red-green Hamburg Senate.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Which brings us to internal security: In the area of ​​internal security, you are primarily calling for an increase in jobs, including in the judiciary. And it also says: "The judiciary must not shy away from exhausting the existing penal framework." Is the Hamburg judiciary too lax for you?

Ploß: First of all, the judiciary in Hamburg must be significantly better equipped. In the case of younger defendants in particular, it is important that proceedings can be completed quickly and that, in the event of a conviction, the punishment is immediate; otherwise the rule of law loses acceptance. Unfortunately, with Ms. Gallina, we have a justice senator from the Greens, who has been burdened with scandals since her first day at work and seems overwhelmed in her office.

WELT AM SONNTAG: But the question was whether the judgment was too lenient.

Ploß: Of course, the individual case always depends on numerous factors. But we also see cases in which it is difficult to explain why intensive offenders or convicted rapists get away with suspended sentences. We also have to increase the range of penalties in one place or another, for example in the case of attacks on police officers, we have done this as the CDU-led federal government. But also with a view to the radical climate activists, we should see whether the laws are sufficient. Citizens rightly expect politicians to act here and give the courts the opportunity to proceed consistently.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Would you like Hamburg to also have the option of 30 days of detention - like it is possible in Bavaria?

Ploß: Being held in custody for such a long time without a prior conviction is a serious encroachment on civil liberties and should therefore only be imposed very cautiously and only by order of a judge. But yes, if, for example, the same people keep blocking roads and thus putting people in danger, we should give the police and judiciary such an instrument.

WELT AM SONNTAG: You also address the issue of cohesion in society in another point of the new program. Here it says: "A purely group-related, identity-political understanding of politics, which only moves along supposed identity characteristics such as skin color, gender or sexual orientation, is diametrically opposed to our understanding of politics: It leads to a division and ultimately a split in our society" - how big do you see it the danger?

Ploß: We are experiencing strong attempts at division from the right and increasingly also from the left. I hear in many conversations that people are very concerned about this. The vast majority are against any form of racism or discrimination, but they also reject gender language or the fact that young people from the age of 14 can even have a gender reassignment done against the will of their parents.

My impression, which I get in many personal conversations, is different from that given in some media - this is also reflected in all representative surveys, by the way. In large cities like Hamburg, we experience the excesses of left-wing identity politics particularly strongly. That's why we are sending a clear signal: We see people as individuals and want to keep society together as a whole instead of dividing it into different groups. It must not depend on the color of the skin, gender, origin or sexual orientation, it must always be about the individual person. We derive this from our Christian image of man, among other things, and that is why we also emphasize the C in our party name.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Let's come to one of the fields that was previously called "classic". Under the heading Economy, the basic program says: “We want to redefine Hamburg as an international metropolis” – what do you mean by that?

Ploß: The SPD-led senates have not exhausted Hamburg's potential. The city is only managed, and not very well either. Unlike the SPD and the Greens, we want Hamburg not only to measure itself against Bremen or Lübeck, but to assume its role as an international metropolis - as was the case during the governments of Ole von Beust, Wolfgang Peiner and Gunnar Uldall.

The port needs to be further developed strategically, for example by specifically promoting economic clusters that attract world-class companies and scientists. To do this, we also have to develop an idea of ​​where the long-term growth areas are. For example, I see a lot of potential in climate-friendly technologies. Infrastructure projects such as the A26 East or the Köhlbrand crossing must finally be implemented. The fact that a successful economic metropolis like Hamburg and a green Bullerbü dream don't go together can be seen every day on the streets of Hamburg.

WELT AM SONNTAG: You mention the importance of the port for Hamburg. How do you see China's involvement in the Port of Hamburg? Can you live with the compromise?

Ploß: It was wrong for Chancellor Olaf Scholz not to take the warnings from his own specialist ministries and secret services seriously. The SPD does not appear to have learned anything from its experience with Russia. In Germany, we generally have to be more vigilant with regard to our critical infrastructure. When we discuss our basic program at the state party conference on Tuesday, we will also decide how we, as the Hamburg CDU, will generally deal with investments in the port of Hamburg and our critical infrastructure.

WELT AM SONNTAG: A separate chapter is dedicated to immigration and integration. The cities are currently reaching the limits of their accommodation options, and many Afghans, Turks and Syrians are coming again. How do you intend to manage immigration in the future? Hamburg is one of the most attractive destinations for immigrants...

Ploß: We stand for orderly immigration. The traffic light coalition obviously learned nothing from 2015. The current situation became apparent early on. But the traffic light coalition has let time pass without taking the necessary measures to control immigration via the Balkan route. It is also important for social acceptance of immigration that those who entered the country illegally and do not have a right of residence are consistently deported. However, it is also clear that we must attract qualified workers to Germany and that we want to grant protection to those who really need it. Our guiding principle is therefore: We want to attract qualified workers to our country, control legal migration and prevent illegal migration.

WELT AM SONNTAG: Most recently, a poll showed that the CDU had 20 percent of the vote, and that would be next Sunday's citizenship election. After 11.2 percent in the 2020 election, did that seem a bit surprisingly high to you?

Ploss: No. I also experience a lot more encouragement than before at the information stands and during my home visits from citizens. We have successfully changed the course of the Hamburg CDU and can now see that our joint work with the parliamentary group around Dennis Thering is bearing fruit. The people of Hamburg are increasingly seeing that we Christian Democrats have better answers to the city's real problems.