CDU's anti-combustion-engine campaign fails - election halted
The Conservative Democratic Union (CDU) is attempting to reverse the European Union's (EU) planned ban on internal combustion engines (ICEs) in new vehicles beginning in 2035. On Friday, shortly before the European elections, they launched an online poll to gather support for this stance. However, by Saturday morning, over 85% of the approximately 60,000 people who participated voted in favor of the ICE ban.
The CDU then stopped the survey, stating that it had been heavily manipulated: "This poll was wildly manipulated," they said. Tens of thousands of automatic votes had skewed the results. The poll was ultimately canceled.
"It's shameful how far manipulation is being carried out here with criminal enthusiasm," commented General Secretary Carsten Linnemann in Bild. Manipulating polls is "unacceptable" during an election campaign, Linnemann added, lamenting that the situation had escalated in the country.
Responding to this, Green parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge commented sarcastically, "It's nice that the CDU has discovered in its own poll that taking a backward step against climate protection and clean mobility is not a good idea," she posted on Saturday. Green climate expert Lisa Badum claimed the CDU's embarrassment on social media, while parliamentary group vice-chair Andreas Audretsch described it as the "biggest fail campaign of the year."
On its website, the CDU posed the question: "Do you support the demand to overturn the ban on combustion engines?" Voters could choose between 'yes' and 'no.' There was no registration required, and voting was anonymous.
The poll was managed for the CDU by the company Campaigning Software GmbH. Christoph Schleifer, a representative from the company, told Bild am Sonntag, "The CDU's vote on the ban on ICEs, launched yesterday, has been heavily manipulated." He had "never seen anything like it in our system." Therefore, the company suggested the CDU cancel the vote.
Schleifer explained that a security standard had been chosen for the poll aimed at providing a balance between a high security level and minimal barriers for participation. "Only a complex system with two-factor authentication using email or mobile phones can defend against the criminal energy present here," he said. However, this complexity conflicts with the requirement for simple, accessible participation.
After the launch of the CDU campaign, environmental associations urged people to participate through social media - and to vote 'no.' Jürgen Resch, the Managing Director of Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), told the AFP news agency on Friday, "The CDU/CSU parties are trying, under false pretenses, to sabotage the only truly effective EU climate protection measure in the transport sector in recent years."
According to the current plans, new vehicles with ICEs will not be allowed to be registered in the EU from 2035 unless the ICEs are carbon-neutral. The planned ban is meant to help the EU achieve its climate protection targets.
Similarly, FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr also advocated for maintaining ICEs but dismissed the CDU's credibility on the issue. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a member of the CDU, is responsible for ending the use of ICEs, Dürr told Funke newspapers on Sunday. CDU leader Friedrich Merz is "losing credibility if, just two weeks before the European elections, he seeks to repeal a policy his party has long promoted."
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Source: www.stern.de