Who will be the head of the CDU?
The answer will be given at the weekend - but it still seems completely open.
Only one thing is clear: Friedrich Merz in particular triggers violent emotions in supporters and opponents.
The decision in the struggle for the
CDU chairmanship is
approaching: On Saturday (January 16), the
CDU delegates will
decide
at the
online party conference
.
Friedrich Merz is
still the
favorite
- but the warnings about
what is
probably the most conservative candidate are increasing.
The supporters of
Armin Laschet
are now pushing more and more public.
One makes an explosive proposal on the
chancellor question
.
The news ticker is updated regularly.
Update from January 14th, 2 p.m.:
None of the three candidates for the
CDU presidency
has broad support on the question of the
Union's
candidacy for
chancellor
.
This is shown by a recent survey *.
Friedrich Merz
is very popular with business leaders - and by a long way.
However, it is
Armin Laschet among
the political leaders
.
The survey was commissioned by the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
and
Capital
.
500 decision-makers from politics, business and administration were surveyed.
The
FAZ
reports that the so-called elite panel shows "interesting chancellor preferences".
Because in comparison with
SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz
, economic executives flirt with the CDU boss and Bavarian Prime Minister
Markus Söder
.
They would also prefer Merz, Laschet and Norbert Rötten as Chancellors to Scholz.
The mood is different among the political elites, who would
only
prefer
Laschet to Olaf Scholz
in the Chancellery.
This would make Laschet the only candidate that both camps could agree on.
The survey also shows that the respondents expect a black-green coalition in the federal government - also as a desired combination.
CDU party congress: Laschet receives support from parliamentary group leaders for his candidacy
Update from January 13, 5:36 p.m.:
Armin Laschet gets a
lot of
support before the CDU party congress.
CDU parliamentary group leaders from five state parliaments support his candidacy for the CDU federal chairmanship.
This was announced by the parliamentary group leaders from North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Bremen, Thuringia and Brandenburg in a joint statement on Wednesday and promoted Laschet.
"As parliamentary group leaders, we know that good work in the party leads to good election results and, as a result, to strong CDU parliamentary groups in the federal, state and local governments," the statement said.
"We are convinced that with Armin Laschet as the new CDU federal chairman in the team with Jens Spahn, we can best meet these necessary demands on ourselves."
Update from January 13, 2:44 p.m.:
Shortly before the CDU party conference on Friday and Saturday,
Armin Laschet has
gained a powerful supporter.
The Hessian Prime Minister
Volker Bouffier
has clearly
spoken out in
favor of his colleague from North Rhine-Westphalia as the new
CDU chairman
.
Bouffier is said to have promoted Laschet at a meeting of the Hessian delegates for the party congress.
The
FAZ
and Hessischer Rundfunk reported on this.
A spokesman for the Hessian CDU confirmed this, according to dpa.
Bouffier is said to have particularly emphasized Laschet's team spirit with his supporter Jens Spahn.
"He can lead a government and knows how to hold a coalition together", quoted the
FAZ
Bouffier.
Before the CDU party congress: Röttgen gives the FDP a rejection
Update from January 13th, 10:37 am
: Harsh clap for the
FDP
: Before the
CDU party conference
on this Saturday
(see first report from January 11th)
,
Norbert Röttgen *
accused
the party of a
"historical failure"
- when she was after denied government responsibility in the 2017 election.
Röttgen's consequence: He is against a coalition with the FDP after the
federal election in 2021
.
That is what the candidate for the successor to CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said to the
Augsburger Allgemeine
.
"You can't rely on a party that sometimes wants to govern and then doesn't," said Röttgen.
"These are
insecure cantonists
that I would not rely on." The
voters
would not forget the failure of the negotiations on a Jamaica coalition three years ago, emphasized Röttgen.
He competes at the CDU party congress against NRW Prime Minister
Armin Laschet *
and the former parliamentary group leader
Friedrich Merz
.
As far as I understand, the competition in the @CDU ends with this election - no matter what the decision is.
Then it is time to work together on the success of the party in order to win the #bundestag election.https: //t.co/fyeQaEHKAx
- Norbert Röttgen (@n_roettgen) January 13, 2021
Before the vote, Röttgen also positioned himself against the
FFP2 mask requirement
, which Prime Minister
Markus Söder (CSU) is introducing
in Bavaria: It is premature.
You first have to explain to people why such masks are more effective and where the difference to normal mouth and nose protection lies, he said in the program “Frühstart” on
RTL
and
ntv
.
Before the CDU showdown suddenly a new chancellor scenario - AKK criticizes Merz: "I never understood"
Update from January 12, 2021, 3:45 p.m.:
Shortly before the
digital CDU election party conference
, the outgoing
party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer took
stock - and once again indirectly criticized Friedrich Merz.
The party experienced a "very fair" election campaign overall, she told the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
in an interview.
However, she noted a "slip" in October.
At that time there was "openly disputed about postponing the party congress".
"I never understood Merz's accusation that the CDU establishment did not want him," said Kramp-Karrenbauer, referring to complaints from the poll favorite about her successor: "It was only about postponing the party congress because of Corona. "
For the outcome of the
three-way battle between Merz, Armin Laschet and Norbert Röttgen
, “AKK” gave no forecast: “It is an open race.
The outcome is difficult to assess, ”she explained.
However, with a view to the upcoming general election, she warned her party against being too self-confident.
"In any case, we cannot take it for granted that the polls will remain as they are now," said the CDU leader.
“We will have to court this trust.
Only in the next few weeks will it really become tangible that the Merkel era will end. "
CDU chairmanship: Merz supporters bring a new chancellor scenario into play
+
Friedrich Merz and Jens Spahn (right) - here at the Saxon CDU party conference at the end of 2018.
© Florian Gaertner / photothek.net / imago
Update from January 12, 2021, 10:00 a.m.:
On Saturday (January 16), the
CDU will
elect
its new
party leader
- but all open questions have not yet been clarified: The race for the
candidate for chancellor
afterwards could be discussed more openly than previously thought.
The
Junge Union
(JU), declared a supporter of
Friedrich Merz
as the upcoming party leader, also approved another candidate for the K question on Tuesday.
When asked whether
Health Minister Jens Spahn had
the format for a candidate for chancellor,
JU boss Tilman Kuban
told
the editorial network Germany: “According to surveys, Jens Spahn is the most popular politician in Germany.
And he is the most successful federal minister.
So it is clear that you can also be a successor to Angela Merkel. "
Kuban generally did not rule out another candidate than the new CDU party leader as candidate for chancellor.
“We live in special times and I want to get out of old thought patterns.
It is clear to me that we should start the race with the most promising candidate.
We'll decide at the end of March. "
Meanwhile,
Armin Laschet
wasted no thought of a competitor Spahn
:
"A prime minister who successfully rules a country of 18 million can also be federal chancellor," he emphasized in an interview with the
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung
with a view to
himself
.
At the same time, he campaigned for this question to be “openly discussed at the right time with CSU boss Markus Söder”.
The question of a candidate for chancellor of his team colleague Spahn does not arise.
CDU chairmanship: Ever louder warnings against Friedrich Merz - is the party breaking up now?
+
Friedrich Merz, Norbert Röttgen and Armin Laschet (from left to right) during a TV round.
© Stefan Boness / Ipon / www.imago-images.de
First report from January 11, 2021: Berlin / Düsseldorf
- It could be the longest internal party election campaign in the history of the Federal Republic - but on Saturday, almost a year after
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced
his resignation
, it should end: The fight for the
party
leadership CDU
.
The CDU delegates will clarify the crucial question online.
It is:
Merz, Laschet or Röttgen
?
On the home stretch the race gets even more turbulent.
At the start of the week, several CDU politicians dared to take cover and named their favorites.
At the same time, warnings from the alleged
favorite Friedrich Merz * are
increasing above all - but not only - outside the party
.
Meanwhile, the election result remains a lucky bag.
Friedrich Merz wants to become CDU boss: lobby experts warn - climate activist after Triell appalled
The NGO LobbyControl, for example, expressed sharp criticism of Merz on Monday.
“As a lobbyist for an entrepreneurial professional association, he is unilaterally committed to economic interests,” explained
LobbyControl
expert Christina Deckwirth.
She referred to Merz's activity as vice-president of the employers' association,
Economic Council of the CDU
.
Merz wrote in his application statement that he wanted to represent all parts of society, explained Deckwirth.
"If he is also a top functionary in a lobby association, then that is not very credible."
Criticism also came from the climate protection movement
Fridays For Future
.
The German figurehead of the activists,
Luisa Neubauer
, was appalled by statements from Merz on Friday at the last "Triell" of the main candidates for the CDU chairmanship.
The business liberal is about a “strategic discrediting of the whole problem”, about a “complete negation of the climate crisis”, said Neubauer in the YouTube program “Klimafrage”, as the portal
watson.de
reported.
CDU chairmanship: Merz polarizes the party - Junge Union warns of "division"
In fact, Merz is also very polarized within the party.
Federal Minister of Education Anja Karliczek
(CDU) had recently
warned indirectly
in
Spiegel
that Merz was the new chairman.
The top of the women's union and North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) had spoken out against Merz.
But that now also called its proponents on the scene.
The
head of the Junge Union, Tilman Kuban
, reacted angrily.
"Anyone who denies Friedrich Merz the competence for the chairmanship himself brings about the split." Merz is the favorite of the Junge Union in the election of the CDU chairman.
"Everyone should be aware of their responsibility for the CDU and advertise their preferred candidate in the last week before the party congress and not against the others," said Kuban.
He warned: "Whoever acts like this is doing the business of the political opponent."
Baden-Württemberg's minister of education, Susanne Eisenmann
, said in the
picture
talk “The right questions”, and in her federal state “the tendency towards Friedrich Merz is the strongest”.
That is also her personal opinion, "especially with regard to economic policy challenges".
Armin Laschet: Supporters report before the CDU showdown - the name Söder suddenly comes up again
Supporters of
NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet *
also spoke up in public
.
The CDU parliamentary group leader in Brandenburg,
Jan Redmann
, spoke out in the
world
for Laschet.
It's about choosing a good “captain” who “holds the team together,” he said.
The
K-question
is already on the
agenda
again:
Redmann can also
imagine
Bavaria's Prime Minister
Markus Söder
(CSU)
as
candidate for the Union's chancellor
alongside Laschet
.
Both have already taken on government responsibility and proven that they could survive in an election campaign.
Eisenmann said, on the other hand, that the
CDU federal chairman
had “first of all a natural right to be chancellor” - apparently a plea for Merz as chancellor candidate.
Laschet and Söder, on the other hand, want to keep the chancellor question open for the time being, regardless of the decision on the CDU chairmanship *.
However, many CDU politicians are still keeping a low profile.
Last
weekend
, for example, the
taz
received
no comments
from the district associations of Bonn and Hochsauerland - the
home associations of Röttgen and Merz
.
"Those who are now clearly committed to Röttgen can obstruct paths," said CDU mayor and delegate Ulrich Lange to the newspaper.
CDU chairmanship and the polls: Röttgen no longer sees himself as an outsider - "That was me once"
Meanwhile, Norbert Röttgen *
no longer sees himself as an outsider.
"I used to be," said Röttgen on Monday on Deutschlandfunk.
But there is “no doubt” that this is no longer the case.
Röttgen said he was even ahead of Laschet in most of the polls.
He has caught up enormously, and the CDU is very popular for him.
In surveys, no clear favorite has emerged so far.
In the latest
ARD “Deutschlandtrend”
, Röttgen achieved
22 percent of all eligible voters
when asked about the favorite for the
CDU chairman
election and was ahead of Laschet with 18 percent;
Merz led with 27 percent approval.
Among the CDU supporters, Röttgen was 25 percent like Laschet, Merz came here to 29 percent.
Merz himself called
for
unity after the election
in the
picture
from Monday
.
"It doesn't matter who is elected from the three candidates: It must be a matter of course to stand behind the new chairman and regain clout as a party," he said.
About himself, Merz said that he “stood for the beginning of a new decade and renewal of the CDU”.
(
fn / dpa / AFP
) *
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