CSU leader Markus Söder wants to attract teachers nationwide to teach in Bavarian schools. "We invite you to come to Bavaria," the Bavarian premier said Wednesday in a press conference after his keynote speech at the closed-door meeting of the CSU state parliamentary group in Kloster Banz. The payment of teachers is better in Bavaria than in other Lands of the Federal Republic. With it one wants to advertise, in order to improve the situation at the schools. Teachers who decide to move would receive support.

The well-being of children and young people is his "top priority," Söder said. The CSU leader announced that Bavaria would implement a legal right to all-day care.

With regard to vocational training, Söder said that master craftsman training in Bavaria should be free of charge in the future. The Free State would then be the first federal state in which prospective master craftsmen in industry and trade would no longer have to pay money for their further training. This will cost about 100 million euros a year, Söder said. For large parts of Bavaria, especially the rural areas, this would also be "a very important signal".

Contrary to earlier statements, the CSU leader can imagine a term as prime minister beyond 2028. "If in 2028 the desire is there and the strength" for him to run again, "then that is open," Söder said.

In 2018, Söder had advocated limiting the terms of office for Bavarian prime ministers to ten years. However, after the opposition in the state parliament refused to give him their votes on the constitutional amendment needed for this, the plan failed. The opposition accused Söder at the time of wanting to change the constitution for purely electoral reasons and compared him to the then American President Donald Trump.

Söder himself had so far always stressed that he felt bound to the ten years even without a constitutional amendment. On Wednesday, he said that for him, the question of the term of office is now no longer "ten, but ten-plus." The CSU leader has been prime minister since 2018; according to his original plan, his term would end in 2028 at the latest, even if he won the election.

Looking ahead to the state elections in Bavaria on Oct. 8, Söder said the start here, at the winter retreat of the state parliamentary group, "makes me hopeful." He set the bar low for his party. "The goal is a stable majority," he said. If the CSU's result becomes more than in 2018, "it's nice." He said it was not about a percentage discussion now.

2013 was the last time the CSU had previously won an absolute majority in the Bavarian state parliament. In 2018, the party had scored 37.2 percent in the state election.

In a poll conducted by Infratest dimap on behalf of Bayerischer Rundfunk ("Bayerntrend") last week, the CSU was at 38 percent. That was one percentage point higher than in October. The Greens remained at 18 percent, while the Free Voters lost one percentage point and were at ten percent. This would be enough for a continuation of the coalition with the CSU. The AfD gained one percentage point and came in at 13 percent. The SPD was at nine percent, losing one percentage point. The FDP was at four percent (up one).

Photo by CDC on Unsplash