Is Söder in the race for the chancellor candidacy after the Corona crisis? Merz makes a clear announcement 

Very good poll values ​​and cryptic statements - observers believe that Markus Söder's candidacy as chancellor is possible. Now Friedrich Merz spoke.

• Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder is currently being observed by observers as a promising candidate for the chancellor candidacy .
• Friedrich Merz , who is also hoping for the Chancellery, does not see Söder as a competitor.
• Now Söder has commented again on the speculation that he would be drawn into federal politics (see update of June 5, 10:27 p.m.). 

Update of June 5, 2020, 10:27 p.m .: After CDU politician Friedrich Merz made it clear that he does not see Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder as a competitor in the race for the chancellorship, the CSU politician has again taken up speculation in connection with a Candidate for Chancellor expressed. "The most beautiful way in Berlin is to Bavaria," said Söder of the Mittelbayerische Zeitung , rejecting the rumors that it would pull him into federal politics. 

"My place is in the Free State," said Söder. But he added that something must also be achieved in Berlin in order to achieve something for Bavaria. "Just asking or writing press releases is not enough," he said.

Race for the Chancellery: Will Markus Söder also join?

First message from June 5, 2020:

Berlin - The Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder * has garnered sympathy from many voters for his handling of the Corona * crisis  . In surveys, he is the second most popular politician after Merkel and is the best candidate among the Union candidates for the chancellor candidacy. That is why observers and experts are now treating Söder as a potential candidate for Chancellor. 

Are the current candidates for the CDU chairmanship and thus indirectly for the chancellor candidacy, Friedrich Merz * and Armin Laschet *, now restless? At least for Merz , this does not seem to be the case: "I don't see Markus Söder as a competitor for the chancellor's candidacy," said the business lawyer at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , adding: "I take his statement seriously that he wants to stay in Bavaria. " 

Merz did not regard Soder's statement that the Union chancellor candidate for the 2021 election would come next January as a rush. "We have a clear order in the Union," said Merz. First the CDU would elect its chairman, then the CDU and CSU would decide who would become the joint candidate for chancellor . Originally, after the surprising resignation of CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer *, a new CDU chairperson should have been elected at a special party conference in April. However, this was initially postponed due to the spread of coronavirus * and then canceled entirely.  

Söder made a cryptic statement regarding the K question

With regard to the K question and the CDU party conference in December, Söder also said: “ Who knows what will happen until then. "In addition, he added in a statement about Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU):" The crisis shows who the Germans trust in difficult times. "In view of Söder's recent strikingly positive survey values , these statements were registered with even more attention. 

It remains to be seen whether Söder will actually join the chancellery. But one thing is definitely certain: the current chancellor Merkel is not considering a fifth term . She emphasized this vehemently on Thursday evening during television interviews on ZDF and ARD. "No, I'm not thinking about it, I've said that a lot," Merkel replied to the question of another candidate for chancellor at the ARD . And she also shared this option on ZDF with a clear removal. 

By the way: Markus Söder not only received positive feedback for his role in the corona pandemic. An incident at the end of May had nothing to do with constructive criticism of his political actions. Because Söder was sent a parcel, the content of which can only be seen as a provocation. The CSU politician posted a picture of the mailing with a clear warning on Twitter.

Hatred and agitation are increasing: @c_drosten and @Karl_Lauterbach are not alone. I also received on 25.5. such an envelope. Conspiracy theorists fuel a dangerous climate. We can not permit that. Politics must show an attitude and be the voice of reason. pic.twitter.com/ZMEGszUNnc

Also interesting: AfD politician Katrin Ebner-Steiner caused outrage on Friday with a photo that shows her at a corona demo. 

cia with dpa

* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.