Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - The Magdeburg SPD member of the Bundestag Martin Kröber has criticized Saxony-Anhalt's abstention from voting in the Bundesrat on citizen income. "Preventing citizen money is cowardly and pure populism," said Kröber on Monday. "Unfortunately, the Union has left the level of substantive politics." In Saxony-Anhalt, almost 55,000 people received unemployment benefit II. "Many don't know how they're going to get through the next winter. Our prime minister is letting these people down."
The left-wing parliamentary group spoke of a backward-looking attempt to block citizen money by the CDU. "The blockade of the CDU contributes to social divisions and means that even more people are left behind," criticized parliamentary leader Eva von Angern. She repeatedly called for poverty-proof basic security without sanctions. Nobody should have less than 1200 euros to live on. If the Hartz IV recipients received 53 euros more with the citizen's income from January 2023, that would be no more than a drop in the bucket.
In a special session of the Federal Council on Monday, the draft law on citizen income did not receive the required majority. This means that the social reform planned for January 1 cannot come into force for the time being. As previously announced, several state governments led by or with the participation of the Union refused to approve the project. Saxony-Anhalt abstained, as a government spokesman confirmed.
