Saxony-Anhalt 'Scandal'?

 This is a basic five-line story, which the German public TV news folks turned into nine-minute massive story last night (off the 'late' news of ARD).

The TV-media tax increase has been dumped as a major topic....which if all sixteen German states vote and agree upon it....it will go up by 86-Euro cents (first increase in almost a decade).  

Around two weeks ago, things were brewing across Germany....one state (Saxony-Anhalt, mid-German state, part of old DDR)....stood up and said 'no'.  They had strongly hinted to the public TV empire (ARD/ZDF) about a decade ago that they needed to reorganize and get 'lean'.  The public TV folks will argue that they did some minor stuff, but basically....it's the same organization that existed a decade ago.

If any state refused the increase on the TV tax?  Well....it has to be all sixteen in agreement.

The Interior Minister of Saxony-Anhalt went to a stance that the government would say 'no'....even if the coalition-government (CDU-Greens-SPD) were in jeopardy.  Oddly enough....the Greens, Linke Party and SPD folks all said that the TV tax increase was fine with them.  The folks going against the tax?  The CDU Party and the AfD Party.

Yeah....the 'evil' AfD Party....partnering in some fashion with the CDU.

The Premier-President (the governor) of the state?  He finally woke up and realized politically....the coalition was falling apart, and this would trigger one of two events (running the government without a majority, or early elections).

Current schedule for the state, in terms of an election?  June 2021 (seven months away).

So the Interior Minister got fired yesterday.

The tax?  Full speed ahead....all approved.  

Journalists will write the story to say that democracy has been preserved.  I would suggest this is more of a comedy of 'errors' than some democracy 'cake' being baked.

How the election may look in June of 2021?  Well, the AfD Party actually got 24.3-percent in the last election (came in as number two).  The CDU Party marginally beat them (29.8-percent).  Right now, the CDU folks are rated at near 32-percent (local polls) and the AfD is rated toward 19-percent.

Will this scandal hurt the CDU situation?  Maybe.  Sitting at number three is the Linke Party, with 16-to-18 percent of the vote.  The Greens are polling near 8-to-10 percent, with the SPD Party near 12 percent.

So this entire scandal is about the TV-tax, the desire to force reorganization upon the public TV empire, and the AfD Party attaching itself into the middle of this?  Yeah.  Like I said at the start of this conversation....it's a five-line story at best.