Probably the biggest problem of the Berlin CDU is their dusty image. Already some country chiefs have tried to change that, with reasonable success. Most recently, State Secretary Monika Grütters failed, which was replaced last May as chairwoman. Her successor Kai Wegner is now making a fresh start.
First public service supplement: An application by the citizens of Berlin for the CDU party convention at the end of November to give the Organization of Lesbians and Gays in the Union (LSU) the status of an official association such as the Junge Union. Wegner also tries to turn his CDU into a modern city party on other topics.
Read the complete interview here.
SPIEGEL: You want to upgrade the LSU, while the majority of your members voted against marriage for all in 2015. What's going on in the Berlin CDU?
Wegner: Our national association was the first to recognize lesbians and gays in the Union as a working group many years ago. Now is the time for the LSU to become an official association, such as the Junge Union or the Frauen Union. That's what we're doing at the federal party convention in Leipzig. The LSU is part of the CDU, it is a strong organization - and when I look at the reality of life in the big cities, we need a corresponding signal. The CDU must be ready for the 21st century.
SPIEGEL: It's interesting that you, of all people, demand this: your national association is considered snared and uninspired, a kind of old West Berlin in a CDU guise. What else can you think of to get rid of this image?
Wegner: We have to make it clearer that the Berlin CDU has long had its finger on the pulse of the city, for example in club culture and in the creative industries. Incidentally, it was a CDU politician who pushed the abolition of the curfew in Berlin 70 years ago. In this tradition, we see each other today. I work for a Berlin CDU as a modern city party and strong people's party. We want to succeed in the next House election.
SPIEGEL: The Berlin CDU is still mainly a men's party: The twelve district associations are run exclusively by men, in the Chamber of Deputies the proportion of women is less than ten percent. How do you want to change that?
Wegner: I want the Berlin CDU to become more feminine. It was important for me to occupy the country's executive board almost equally with strong women. And even with regard to the list of lists for the House of Representatives election, we must increase the proportion of women significantly. At least as important is the content offered to make it more attractive for voters and for women who want to join us.
SPIEGEL: In fact, you are calling for the introduction of 24-hour day-care centers in each district and the universality of collective agreements to compensate for pay gaps between men and women and better working time models. Sounds like SPD or even Left Party.
Wegner: It's not about left or right, but about right or wrong. My claim is a lifelike offer for the people. For example, young women and men have a problem in this city to unite family and work. There must be better offers than before. Berlin does not always need more ideology, but more common sense.
SPIEGEL: But what about your core clientele? Recently you even said that in the future there will be no other way to strengthen bicycle traffic than to take away drivers in the city.
Wegner: That's the truth. Ten years ago there were not as many cyclists in Berlin as today, of course a party has to take that into account. What does not work, however, is to operate an ideological transport policy, as the Greens and the red-red-green Senate do unilaterally against the car. I work for a city where all road users get their rights.
SPIEGEL: How do your meetings with representatives of the ultra-conservative values of Union fit into the image of the modern, liberal Berlin CDU?
Wegner: These are members of the Berlin CDU. It is my job to interact with them. That does not mean that I share everything the valuesUnion wants. But I believe in the idea of the People's Party, that's what I fight for. When it comes to child poverty, fear of decline or retirees on the poverty line, I am one hundred percent social. Hardly anyone is as liberal as I am with the variety of life plans and family models. However, Berlin can only be the liberal city that I love, even if law and order are consistently enforced. I'm conservative. Living diversity needs a secure foundation.