Friedrich Merz has to be fix. When the tablets are unlocked on the delegate tables in the Leipziger Messehalle 1 on Friday morning at the start of the congress, Merz should immediately announce himself orally as a speaker by digital means: the order of the contributions is arranged according to receipt. If Merz is fast, he could possibly be the first to go into the so-called debate on the report of the CDU chairmen, reacting directly to the speech of party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
Formally Merz is easier delegate of his Hochsauerlandkreises on the CDU federal party day, which takes place on Friday and Saturday in Leipzig, a special right to speak therefore does not come to him. But he has announced that he will engage programmatically and thus fundamentally from the lectern. And so the tension of the party congress is likely to move between the simple member Merz and the chairman and Federal Defense Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer.
It's been over a year since Kramp-Karrenbauer prevailed at the Hamburg party convention last December in the race for the presidency, almost against the former Union faction leader Merz. Now all eyes are on the two again.
On the one hand, this is due to Kramp-Karrenbauer himself, who committed so many blunders within a few months that their authority in the party and their popularity in the population have suffered drastically. Merz, in turn, who renounced after the defeat to a top office in the party and could only be voted vice president of the party-affiliated Economic Council, enjoys undiminished great sympathy in parts of the CDU and the citizens - and has his big goal in the eye: the Chancellery.
Merz's ambitions
Will there be a showdown in Leipzig, Part II, for the open power struggle between Merz and AKK? Kramp-Karrenbauer has no choice, and Merz, at least he assures that, does not want to question the boss directly.
Nevertheless, the party congress should be a show run. Merz hardly makes a secret of the fact that he has not given up his ambitions of possibly succeeding Angela Merkel.
However, his plan is apparently for the time being, especially to criticize the case, so as to show that he could do it better than Kramp-Karrenbauer or other possible chancellor candidates such as North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Armin Laschet or Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn. This, however, without completely messing with the incumbent chairman. Some people already rumor about possible agreements when the question of the Chancellor candidate becomes really acute.
More at SPIEGEL +
Either way - relaxed Kramp-Karrenbauer can not go to the party convention. For the poll numbers are weak, the internal dispute is too loud. "Germany's strong center," as the CDU self-confidently calls itself in party congress motto, in fact just weakens.
Of course, Kramp-Karrenbauer is not alone responsible for the misery, but as chairman she stands for success as failure. To turn the mood, the party leader in Leipzig would have to speak at least as brilliantly as in her application speech a year ago.
But even then, there are still a few issues where unpleasant debates are threatening:
- Example Grundrente : After tormenting negotiations, the Union and the SPD had recently reached a compromise, which now could question or at least hinder relevant groups. The business wing, the junior organization Junge Union (JU) and other delegates want to submit an own motion requesting specific details in the implementation, which some interpret as pure sabotage. If the request receives a majority, the Federal Government is threatened with a new dispute with the Social Democrats. This in turn could have an impact on the upcoming SPD party congress decision on the future coalition.
- On the question of whether Huawei may be involved in the 5G construction, Kramp-Karrenbauer faces an immediate conflict with Chancellor Merkel - if applications to exclude the Chinese network equipment supplier would find a majority. Merkel believes that Huawei's participation is possible if the relevant standards are adhered to. A request for initiative from the CDU foreign policy politician Norbert Röttgen, which was modified by the party committees on Thursday evening, could help. This provides for a more stringent examination, but does not explicitly require an exclusion from Huawei.
- The discussion about the quota motion of the Women's Union could also be uncomfortable for the chairwoman. Kramp-Karrenbauer has made a strong case for the quota in the past in order to make the CDU fundamentally more attractive to women. But after the quota plans of CSU boss Markus Söder recently failed, the CDU leadership now does not even seem to be the required by the Women's Union quorum of 33 percent majority.
The recommendation of the requesting commission to transfer the quota application for fear of a defeat in a party committee, the women's union from attachment to Kramp-Karrenbauer will probably submit - strengthened by only the quota opponents may feel. Exactly this dilemma is likely to come up when discussing the topic on Saturday. - And then there are the applications of Young Union and several district and state associations for a primary election or member survey on the next candidate for chancellor. This one is back to Friedrich Merz - even if it is not clear whether he finds a primary choice really good. But the initiators are about Merz: They believe that he would have better chances if the base was involved.
Even though it was recently warned by the CDU leadership, "if we are still reasonably well, we will not discuss such issues at the congress" - the debate will not be avoided. Although here too the application committee recommends the transfer to a statutory body, it could be voted on at the end. It is not excluded that the majority votes for each primary vote. And then? If Kramp-Karrenbauer had a real problem.
The only planned election at the party congress, on the other hand, should be based entirely on the wishes of the chairperson: Silke Breher of Lower Saxony was nominated by her regional association for the succession of Ursula von der Leyens - she makes no secret of her attachment to Kramp-Karrenbauer.
More at SPIEGEL +
