Last exchange of blows before the big decision: Röttgen, Merz and Laschet "triumphed" again on Friday - always present: the Greens.
Berlin - A week before the
CDU party conference
to elect the new party leader, the three applicants advertised themselves in a final exchange of blows.
However, the round remained comparatively tame: In the one and a half hour
live debate
on Friday evening in the Berlin CDU headquarters,
Armin Laschet, Friedrich Merz and Norbert Röttgen
avoided
confrontations, as they did in the first
round of
candidates organized by the party in mid-December.
There
were hardly any differences in
the central discussion topics of
climate protection, internal security and foreign policy
.
CDU election campaign: last debate before the party congress - Röttgen wants to represent “everyone”, Laschet points to an election victory
At the end of the round, the three candidates were able to promote themselves again directly in two-minute contributions in the debate broadcast live on television.
North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Laschet * relied above all on his government experience.
He had not been able to compete
for the CDU chairmanship
for
ten months
because he had to make decisions in the corona pandemic, he said with a view to his opponents, the former Union parliamentary group leader Merz and the ex-environment minister and current Union Foreign policy experts Röttgen *.
Laschet advocated that he brought with him “government experience”, the “management of a large country” and the “balance between different interests”.
In addition, it is certainly not harmful that he has already won an election.
The NRW state chief had recently caught up in the surveys.
CDU chairmanship: expert sees Laschet as a continuation of the Merkel years - Merz "polarizes"
Merz
said Germany was facing big tasks, but also on a solid foundation.
It is about daring to break new ground and making renewal possible.
In particular, he made suggestions for an “ecological renewal of the social market economy”, a “new generation contract”.
The CDU must remain a “European party” and have the right to be a “People's Party of the Middle”.
The
CDU foreign policy expert Röttgen
presented himself as an alternative to Laschet and Merz. "I am not a camp, I stand for everyone," said Röttgen.
He stands for a clear modernization profile: The CDU must become “more feminine, younger and more digital”.
In the 2nd round for the #CDU chairmanship, political scientist @andrearoemmele @theHertieSchool sees potential at @n_roettgen to present the modern @CDU.
@arminlaschet stand for the continuation d.
#MerkelRegierung, while @_friedrichmerz polarized as expected.
pic.twitter.com/A3Kdww6Kpu
- phoenix (@phoenix_de) January 8, 2021
The political scientist Andrea Römmele judged on the Phoenix broadcaster after the round that Laschet had positioned himself as a candidate for the continuation of long-term Chancellor Angela Merkel's course, while Röttgen was a representative of a “modern” CDU.
Merz, on the other hand, polarized - he addressed his clientele, but did not go beyond that.
CDU squinted at Greens: Röttgen does not categorically exclude speed limit - Laschet surprises with steel mill thesis
The greatest differences between the candidates were still evident when it came to
climate protection
.
Laschet warned against ruining German industry through excessive climate protection measures.
If you
want to keep the
steel or chemical industry
in the country, you have to provide affordable electricity.
“If the steel industry moves to China and produces the steel there, the world climate is not served.
A steel mill in Duisburg is a contribution to the global climate, ”said Laschet.
Röttgen pleaded for a more ambitious course.
"If we keep thinking, we will not achieve climate protection, we will not stop climate change, and we will undermine the future of industry and the economy." He also spoke out against a
speed limit
in principle - but also made it clear that it is not an immovable question of faith.
In terms of climate policy, all three candidates set themselves apart from the
Greens
- who have ambitions to become chancellor themselves this year -
in decidedly moderate tones
.
"In principle, we are more on the liberal side and do not believe that we have to constantly patronize and regulate people - neither in agriculture nor on the consumer side," said Merz.
Laschet missed “the feeling for the social question and the feeling for the industrialized country Germany” among the Greens.
Röttgen said that the
CDU's unique selling proposition
must be to combine credibility with climate policy with “market-based expertise and openness to technology”.
Laschet wants to wait with Chancellor Freestyle - and receives painful survey failure in NRW
The three candidates have been seeking approval for months.
The
party conference
planned for the election
had to be postponed twice due to the corona pandemic.
On Friday and Saturday of the coming week *, 1001 delegates will decide at a purely digital party congress who will succeed the outgoing party leader
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
.
The election at the two-day party congress is scheduled for Saturday next week.
The Union's candidate for chancellor for the
federal elections in the autumn
is to be determined later in coordination with the CSU.
A decision should only be made in spring - not only Laschet pleads for a wait and see *.
It has been speculated for a long time whether the
CSU boss
and
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder will
enter the race for the Union.
According to reports, Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn is also said to have explored his chances of running for chancellor *;
when deciding on the CDU chairmanship, Spahn forms a team with Laschet.
Laschet reacted calmly on Friday evening.
Formally, Spahn's candidacy is still possible, he said.
“I don't think he will.
I believe his word that he's on the team.
And in that respect I'm not worried, ”said Laschet.
However, he also had
to take note of
a
painful survey result
on Friday
: Nowhere in
Germany
is trust in its own state government as low as in North Rhine-Westphalia.
According to a survey by the opinion research institute Forsa, only 43 percent of the people there trust their government, as the editorial network Germany reported.
(AFP / dpa / fn) *
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