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The three candidates for the CDU chairmanship: Armin Laschet (M), Friedrich Merz (r) and Norbert Röttgen (l)
Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa
After lengthy discussions, the federal executive committee of the women's union has spoken out in favor of either Armin Laschet or Norbert Röttgen becoming the next CDU boss.
According to SPIEGEL information, the decision was made on Thursday evening in an internal federal board meeting.
The women refrained from a formal vote, also because the mood was too heterogeneous.
Many in the party had previously assumed that women in the Union - unlike the decision in 2018 - would not make a recommendation before the party congress next week.
In the federal executive committee of the Women's Union, it was a matter of dispute until the very end whether one should give one's own delegates an official recommendation or not.
The head of the Women's Union, Annette Widmann-Mauz, told SPIEGEL: “We now need strong cohesion so that the CDU remains the leading party in the middle of society.
That is why the CDU's Women's Union has a clear preference for Armin Laschet and Norbert Röttgen for the party chairmanship: "With their political experience, their modern political style and forward-looking content, the two candidates have the skills to lead the CDU well into the future."
Many in the party had previously assumed that women in the Union - unlike the decision in 2018 - would not make a recommendation before the party congress next week.
In the federal executive committee of the Women's Union, it was a matter of dispute until the very end whether one should give one's own delegates an official recommendation or not.
The double recommendation is a sign of how unclear the situation in the party is as far as the future chairman is concerned.
The strong support for Röttgen came as a surprise, which should be further tailwind for him before the decision in a few days.
Most recently, his polls among CDU members had greatly improved, and support in some state associations had also grown.
In his home association of North Rhine-Westphalia, he still has numerous opponents due to the handling of his defeat as the top candidate in 2012.
Nevertheless, important Christian Democrats now also trust him to get into the runoff election at the party conference, which is being held for the first time in a purely digital manner.
The support of the Women's Union is also important for Laschet.
His support seemed to wane at last.
Mistrust of female delegates against Merz
The recommendation also shows how great the distrust is among female delegates towards Friedrich Merz.
The ex-parliamentary group leader is in a difficult position because he is not committed to the quota for women, but pleads for alternative ways to promote women.
Röttgen seems to have scored points with the Women's Union with his mantra of wanting to make the CDU younger and more feminine.
They make up about a third of the delegates at the party congress.
The CDU wants to vote on the new chairman at the end of next week.
How the vote will end is considered completely open.
Originally, a decision was to be made last April, but the party conference was postponed twice due to the pandemic.
Now it should be voted digitally.
For legal reasons, however, the winner must be confirmed again in writing.
The question of power, which has been open for around a year, also weighs on the party because it is unclear how the CDU will go into the federal election year programmatically and strategically.
All three candidates stand for different approaches, so the question of who wins is of great importance for how the CDU is perceived.
The Christian Democrats and the CSU do not want to decide on the candidacy for chancellor until the spring.
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