Please support THE CITIZEN'S VOICE with a donation HERE!
|
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
| Home About Contact | ||
|
||
Please support THE CITIZEN'S VOICE with a donation HERE! | ||
|
|
||
Hypocrisy at the Highest Level! Götz Ulrich’s (CDU) Sudden Awakening to Local Self-Government: From Obedient Decree Enforcer to Self-Proclaimed Anchor of StabilityFollowing the AfD’s historic election result in Saxony-Anhalt, District Administrator and President of the District Council Association Götz Ulrich (CDU) has suddenly discovered local self-government and the independence of the districts. 
For decades the extended arm of the state government, particularly during the COVID years, Götz Ulrich is now preaching equal footing. A look behind the rhetoric reveals the full cynicism of a system that ignores the will of the voters and sells debt as “special funds”.* The state election was only a few days ago. The AfD received 43.8 percent, while the CDU collapsed to 17.2 percent. The political earthquake in Saxony-Anhalt is impossible to miss. And what does the President of the District Council Association of Saxony-Anhalt and District Administrator of the Burgenlandkreis, Götz Ulrich, do? On September 7, 2026, he posted a video and a text on Facebook in which the districts are suddenly portrayed as “anchors of stability” for the state. The district councils and district administrators are “directly elected” and are “not a subordinate institution of any state government”. Any future state government must respect local self-government and strengthen local authorities. He raises questions about the budget, municipal finances, investments from the special funds, structural-change funding, and the school system. Sounds noble. Sounds statesmanlike. Sounds responsible. Read between the lines, however, and it is something quite different: a desperate attempt by the old establishment to secure its stronghold against the clear will of voters for change. “Anchor of stability” can quite aptly also be translated as “business as usual” and “Ignore the voters, we’ll handle the actual work here.” From Extended Arm to Sudden Freedom Fighter: When Did the Revelation Come?Ulrich now emphasizes that he is not a subordinate institution. When did this thought occur to him? During the COVID years, there was precious little evidence of it. Quite the opposite: Ulrich not only implemented state and federal requirements, he often went beyond them and tightened them locally. In December 2021, the Burgenlandkreis tightened the measures with reference to the hospital situation—mandatory masks in classrooms, mandatory testing for daycare staff regardless of vaccination status, and additional restrictions on events. He issued his own COVID protection regulations, imposed curfews when the incidence rate exceeded 500, and justified them by citing the need to protect intensive-care units. In videos and speeches, he appealed to the population to accept restrictions and presented the harsh measures as unavoidable.That was not autonomous local self-government. That was the classic enforcement of orders from above—with local tightening. During the pandemic, district administrators became the local enforcement organs of the state government and the Conference of Minister-Presidents. Dissent? Criticism of proportionality? Demands for greater local autonomy? Nowhere to be seen. Ulrich was part of the system that passed regulations down from above and disciplined the population. Now, as the political climate shifts and an AfD-dominated or at least strongly influenced state government looms, he suddenly discovers his own dignity as a directly elected representative. This is not consistency of principle. This is situational absence of principles. When did he realize that the state must strengthen the districts and municipalities and respect their self-government? Apparently precisely when the previous state governments (in which the CDU played a major role) financially bled the municipalities dry and confronted the districts with rising social costs, inadequate fiscal equalization, and a maze of funding programs. For decades, the local level complained—and at the same time loyally played along. Now, after the voters’ verdict, self-government has become a sacred cow. The hypocrisy factor is astronomically high. Special Funds? Let’s Call a Spade a Spade: DebtUlrich speaks of “special funds of the federal government” that are supposed to finance schools and roads—and warns that the AfD “does not want to touch them”. Nice framing. The fact is: special funds are de facto additional debt outside the regular budget. They circumvent the debt brake, obscure the true financial situation, and create shadow budgets. The AfD states this clearly in its program: “Special funds” are nothing other than hidden debt budgets. They serve to circumvent the debt brake.Ulrich and the established forces call it “special funds” because “debt” sounds bad. The AfD calls it debt because that is what it is. It is obvious who is using the more honest language here. And as for investments in schools and roads: anyone who organizes financing through ever-new special shadow budgets instead of setting priorities in the core budget and cutting bureaucracy has themselves contributed to the underlying crisis. The Questions for the AfD: Fearmongering Instead of AnalysisUlrich asks dramatically: What will happen to the structural-change funding for the phase-out of lignite if the AfD opposes the phase-out of lignite? What will happen to school investments if the school system is to be “fundamentally overhauled”?The AfD opposes the accelerated phase-out of lignite and wants to preserve the region’s economic base or halt the phase-out—in line with its opposition to the energy-transition policy, which it regards as deindustrializing. It rejects special funds and calls for budgetary transparency. With regard to the school system, it wants a stronger focus on academic performance, restrictions on inclusion experiments, a return to more differentiated types of schools, and greater emphasis on core competencies rather than ideological programs. Whether that means “fundamentally overhauled” is in the eye of the beholder. For Ulrich and CDU-led continuity, any deviation from the previous course is a threat to the “practical work” of government. What is interesting is that Ulrich portrays the AfD as a threat to investment and planning security, while the previous governments maneuvered municipalities into financial distress. The districts have been complaining for years about underfunding, cash advances, and rising social expenditures—and this happened with the CDU sharing responsibility at the state level. Psychological Reading: The Anchor of Stability as a Defense Mechanism“Anchor of stability” sounds reassuring. Between the lines, it is a defense mechanism: voters have overwhelmingly voted for change. The response of the established local-government official is: We are staying, we are carrying on, we are the constant, the practical work, the reliability. The voters’ desire for political change is reinterpreted as a threat to “sound practical local-government work”. This is classic defense of the status quo: one portrays one’s own continuity as necessary stability and implies that any alternative means chaos.Psychologically, this is a mixture of vested-interest thinking, cognitive dissonance, and a paternalistic sense of superiority. Ulrich and people like him have functioned within the established system for years—as loyal implementers, intermediaries upward, and administrators of the status quo. Now that this system is being punished by voters, they retreat into the rhetoric of independence and pragmatism. They want to remain the “anchor” while voters have demanded a change of course. The Hypocrisy Factor Is EnormousDuring the decisive years of the pandemic, Götz Ulrich was the man who tightened and enforced regulations from above at the local level. He was part of the hierarchy. Now, as the political hierarchy threatens to shift, he discovers local self-government and direct elections. He speaks of special funds but means debt, and warns against the will of the voters by framing it as a threat to investment and planning security.This is not a plea for strong municipalities. It is a plea for continuing the existing system under the guise of stability. The districts can and should be anchors of stability—but not as a bulwark against the will of the voters. Ulrich’s appearance looks more like an attempt to lash the old anchor firmly in place while the ship has long since decided to change course. The hypocrisy factor is not merely high—it is systemic. Ulrich Is Already Counting on an AfD GovernmentIt is remarkable how matter-of-factly Ulrich is already speaking the day after the election as though an AfD-led state government were practically a certainty. He frames his questions and warnings as though the special funds, structural-change funding, and existing school system were immediately under threat. In doing so, he conveniently ignores the reality of the parliamentary process: forming a government will still take weeks, and until then everything remains as it is. Even if AfD participation or leadership ultimately came about, legislative changes, budget resolutions, and the reorientation of funding programs would require additional time. Yet Ulrich acts as though financial and administrative collapse were already looming tomorrow—a classic fear narrative intended to secure his own position before negotiations have even begun.
Author: AI-Translation - АИИ | |
|
| Other articles: |
 | More Work Without Wage Compensation at the Burgenlandkreis Job CenterThere is fantastic news to report from the district council committee meeting on the Burgenlandkreis Job Center from June 3, 2026.... zum Artikel |
 | We won’t let them ruin the Ukraine war for us!They keep mobilizing, these peace babblers, these peace agitators, and they demonstrate in Weißenfels, Naumburg, Zeitz, as well as along federal highways and motorways with their ... zum Artikel |
 | Shocking Discovery: Children Find Mass Grave After Bloody Battle in the Kliebe!In September 1813, during the chaos of the Battle of Leipzig, something happened that would forever mark the small region around Zettweil.... zum Artikel |
|
Support the operation of this website with voluntary contributions: via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/evovi/12 or via bank transfer IBAN: IE55SUMU99036510275719 BIC: SUMUIE22XXX Account holder: Michael Thurm Shorts / Reels / Kurz-Clips Imprint / Disclaimer |