The SPD has already sent Olaf Scholz into the race as a candidate for chancellor. The CDU, on the other hand, doesn't even have a new boss. Ralph Brinkhaus is now trying to prevent a close race.
Berlin (dpa) - Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus has been critical of a possible candidate for a fight in the struggle for the CDU chairmanship.
"I think it would be good if the candidates talk to each other and find a common path," Brinkhaus told the "Handelsblatt". "A friendly solution before the party congress in December would be best."
In view of the corona pandemic, Brinkhaus warned of a long power struggle within the party. "Now have three months of primary campaigns and then 270 days of real election campaigns, who wants that given the difficult situation in Germany?"
At the beginning of December, the new CDU chairmanship is to be elected at a party conference in Stuttgart. The candidates with the best prospects are North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Armin Laschet, the economic expert Friedrich Merz and the foreign expert Norbert Röttgen. In the CDU there are fears that if the election between Laschet and Merz is narrow, the party could go into the super election year 2021 with several state and federal elections.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200821-99-248409 / 3
