Prime Minister Markus Söder warns of the AKK withdrawal. CSU boss Söder fears that the chancellor's issue will be a bit too much.
- CDU boss Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer takes a radical step.
- The CSU is surprised by her resignation.
- Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder urges quick clarification.
Munich - It was a deceptive peace behind monastery walls. At the beginning of January, Markus Söder and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer were heard talking very harmoniously in the bitterly cold Seeon. "We form an axis," flared the CDU chairwoman. The CSU chief announced at the retreat of his deputies that "they would also discuss the most important questions ."
Söder informed at the last moment?
Well, the reality is tougher. Kramp-Karrenbauer already felt this in Seeon when Söder called for a cabinet reshuffle for the federal government. And at the latest yesterday morning at shortly after 9 a.m., Söder was able to find out on her cell phone that she, too, was not agreeing on everything. Kramp-Karrenbauer only informed him of her decision not to run as chancellor and party leader at the last moment, shortly before the CDU leadership meeting. He was surprised. And not very enthusiastic about her plans to start a one-year succession search process.
“ The situation is serious. This is not a game thing now , ”Söder later said in“ BR extra ”. It is now not just about an open leadership question, but about the stability of the entire democracy.
Hardly anyone in the CSU would have shaken AKK on its own, although her lack of power instinct was also apparent in Munich and she herself rejected well-intentioned advice. But Söder credits her with the fact that together they managed to fix the fatal asylum rift from 2015 to 2018. And currently, while the final phase of his local election campaign is starting, he was temporarily not interested in too much unrest in Berlin.
Söder - the candidate for chancellor from Bavaria?
Now everything starts to slide with a rumble. For Söder himself, this means that speculation about a candidate for chancellor is swelling just minutes after AKK's announcement. Different descriptions circulate as to whether he would end up accessing it or not, whether gladly or reluctantly. For weeks he has denied bravely ("My place is in Bavaria") and knows that at the moment of his candidacy he would have a difficult follow-up debate at home. If it failed, it would even be badly damaged. Söder is not that willing to take risks.
But what he wants: the last word at party leader level. The CSU is therefore displeased that Kramp-Karrenbauer emphasizes that the candidate for chancellor will also be the CDU chief and a CDU party conference should decide on this by the end of the year. Then the CSU would have no beep voice. "Of course" it is different, Söder says several times cool on Monday.
That also doesn't fit the power statics of the past few weeks. Example Wednesday: When neither AKK nor Merkel could be reached by phone for hours after the election shock in Thuringia, several CDU leaders in Bavaria asked what had to be done. Söder set the course, internally, then in front of the cameras.
I have great respect for @akk's decision - even if I'm sorry. Because we work together very trustingly. But it is now necessary to fundamentally clarify the content and personnel structure of the #CDU.
- Markus Söder (@Markus_Soeder) February 10, 2020CSU top thinks Kramp-Karrenbauer's schedule is "absolutely unrealistic"
The CSU leadership also thinks Kramp-Karrenbauer's schedule is "absolutely unrealistic" and fears that the K-question and the cabinet will change. The outgoing boss would slip away from the controls within a short time. Week after week, the Union will then drop in the polls until the Greens pass. Then you only need to nominate a Vice Chancellor candidate, it is said in Munich cynically. From April and before July, decisions would have to be made: "It can't go on like this until December." Söder warns in the BR: "It might be possible to hold a beauty contest for half a year, who is better where and when will not bring more stability."
The CSU does not yet have a preference for a candidate for chancellor. Individuals from the regional group have sympathy for Jens Spahn. From the parliamentary group, for example from Steffen Vogel, there are urgent calls for a "departure from Friedrich Merz". Söder has never committed himself as far as is known, he gets along with both, and also with NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet.
In a switching conference of the CSU Presidium early Monday evening, however, Söder advises caution on this issue. Participants quote him that one now has to be “reasonable”. State group leader Alexander Dobrindt also warns that in this unstable situation one has to “have a positive impact” on the CDU: “Without malice, without exaggerated advice.” Even if it is difficult.
After Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer's resignation, the CDU is looking for a successor to the AKK. A recent survey sees a clear favorite.
Within the Union, the question of chancellor candidacy is slowly but surely emerging. A favorite has now emerged in a survey in the Union.
