RTL/ntv rescinds debate invitations to CDU and Left Party in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania election

First invited, then uninvited: RTL/ntv plans to hold a televised debate for the state election without the CDU and the Left Party. Both parties suspect the SPD is behind the decision.

Published: August 10, 2026 — 7:59 PM

"Unacceptable incident": CDU state leader and top candidate Daniel Peters Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa

By Rainer Rutz

It is rare for the CDU and the Left Party in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to agree on anything. But certain events bring them together. Daniel Peters, the CDU's top candidate for the state election in six weeks, calls it an "unacceptable incident." Left Party state leader Hennis Herbst agrees for once: "I take a fundamental stance on this. That's completely unacceptable."

The incident in question is primarily a rather unfriendly act: Both parties were initially invited in writing by the broadcaster group RTL/ntv and the cooperating radio station Ostseewelle at the beginning of June to participate in a televised debate ahead of the election on September 20. Now, two months later, they have been uninvited — also in writing — without explanation.

As RTL/ntv confirmed to taz upon inquiry, the September debate will now feature only a duel between SPD Minister-President Manuela Schwesig and AfD challenger Leif-Erik Holm — that is, the candidates of the two parties leading in the polls. Daniel Peters of the opposition CDU and Simone Oldenburg, the top candidate of the Left Party — which has governed alongside the SPD in Schwerin for five years — must stay out.

Accusations of Political Interference

So far, unpleasant for those uninvited. But there is an additional serious accusation. Schwesig's immediate circle is said to have intervened forcefully on her behalf at RTL/ntv and Ostseewelle to prevent a four-person round. According to the rumored threat, Schwesig would either appear in a duel against AfD man Holm — or not at all. If the broadcasters wanted the head of government on board, then only without "the dwarves" from the Left Party and the CDU.

That is exactly what was reported to them by people involved in the process at the broadcasters, say Daniel Peters from the CDU and Hennis Herbst from the Left Party, independently of each other. They cannot provide written proof of their accusation, but it fits the picture.

Schwesig's Strategy: Me or the AfD

Head of Government Schwesig has long relied on a confrontational election campaign with the extreme right: Me or the AfD, stability or decline, democracy — that is me, Manuela Schwesig. It is quite possible that her strategy will succeed on September 20. But it is also quite possible that the SPD's potential coalition partners will be run over in the process.

Not least for the opposition CDU, things threaten to become uncomfortable. The conservatives — for many years the ruling party in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania — have slipped to 9 percent in the latest poll. Top candidate Peters holds the public focus on a two-way race between the SPD and the AfD at least partly responsible for this.

The Minister-President's strategy, he says, is solely about maintaining power, without regard for losses and possible collateral damage. "Manuela Schwesig does not want to save democracy, Manuela Schwesig wants to save Manuela Schwesig," Peters told taz. In doing so, the head of government is "consciously giving the AfD a large media platform." What's more: "She is thereby strengthening the AfD."

Hennis Herbst from Schwesig's left-wing coalition partner puts it more diplomatically: "By ensuring that the Left and the CDU are uninvited, you are ultimately only giving the AfD more airtime." That may be in the interest of polarization. "The democratic debate..."