Düsseldorf (dpa/lnw) - After a two-year forced break due to corona, the major parties in North Rhine-Westphalia are again inviting people to a political Ash Wednesday with a large audience for the first time. The Greens are kicking things off today in Cologne with two chairmen of the state and federal parties: Tim Achtermeyer and Omid Nouripour.
The SPD also has national political celebrities at the start: party leader Lars Klingbeil, together with the North Rhine-Westphalian opposition leader Thomas Kutschaty, traditionally wants to use the Freischütz forest restaurant in Schwerte (6 p.m.) as a stage for taunts against political competition. At the same time, Prime Minister and state party leader Hendrik Wüst goes into the ring for the CDU in a rifle club in Lennestadt, Sauerland - which has also been used for this purpose for many years.
The FDP sends its general secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai into the race in Bielefeld's Leinewebersaal. At the Liberals' traditional Ash Wednesday venue, in the Mondpalast Wanne-Eickel, sharp-tongued tips can be expected from Deputy Party leader Wolfgang Kubicki.
