After the CDU chairmanship and the ministerial post did not work out, Friedrich Merz now wants to run for the Bundestag election in September.
Update from March 2, 7:59 p.m.:
Ex-Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz is applying for a candidacy for the Bundestag in the Hochsauerlandkreis in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The 65-year-old announced this on Tuesday evening, according to his spokesman, in a letter to the members of the district executive boards and chairmen of the local CDU associations.
On Monday, Merz was unanimously proposed as a candidate for the Bundestag constituency by the Sundern and Arnsberg city associations.
The wish expressed by the CDU that Merz should continue to play an important role in the country's politics was taken into account, according to a statement from the city associations.
On Tuesday evening, the CDU district executive discussed the procedure for listing the candidates.
Patrick Sensburg is currently a member of the Bundestag as a CDU member for the constituency.
The administrative expert and President of the Bundeswehr Reservists Association held on to the request of the
German Press Agency
on Monday afternoon to
hold on
to his candidacy, which he had declared in January.
A third applicant of the CDU for the Hochsauerlandkreis, Bernd Schulte, according to a communiqué from the city association, however, offered the prospect of supporting a candidacy from Merz if it was supported by a broad base in the district party.
The city association of Meschede had sent Schulte into the race.
Already at the weekend it became known that Merz, who was defeated in the fight for the CDU party chairmanship against Armin Laschet in January, could imagine a candidacy
(see first report)
.
The lawyer, who was born in Brilon, was CDU / CSU parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag from 2000 to 2002.
In the 2009 federal election, Merz no longer ran, instead took care of his law firm and went into business, for example to the American asset manager Blackrock, where he became chairman of the supervisory board for Germany.
In 2018 Merz was also defeated in a runoff election for the CDU party chairman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
After losing the CDU chairmanship: is Friedrich Merz now running for the Bundestag election in September?
First report from February 28th:
Hagen - The unsuccessful candidate for the CDU federal chairmanship, Friedrich Merz, is considering a candidacy in the Hochsauerland district for the federal election in September.
"I was asked by several city association chairmen in the Sauerland whether I could imagine running for the constituency," said the 65-year-old of the
Westfalenpost
(online and Monday edition).
"I'm not averse."
In January, Merz had to bow to the North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Armin Laschet *, who recently got into the media due to his demand for unity in the corona deliberations in the election for the CDU federal chairmanship.
Friedrich Merz: The decision on the candidacy will be made at the end of April
The current CDU member of the Bundestag for the Hochsauerland district is interior expert Patrick Sensburg (49);
he had taken over the constituency in 2009 from Friedrich Merz *.
Sensburg is also President of the Bundeswehr Reservists Association.
In addition, the Mesched city association nominated the 35-year-old politician Bernd Schulte for the federal election campaign at the weekend.
He is deputy chairman of the CDU district parliamentary group in Hochsauerland and head of division in the Düsseldorf State Chancellery.
Friedrich Merz told the
Westfalenpost
that he did not want “an open field battle” for the candidacy in the Sauerland
.
The constituency has always been known for its unity.
The decision on the upcoming CDU * Bundestag candidate is due to be made at the end of April
.
Laschet wants to involve Merz in alignment with the CDU
In January, CDU leader Armin Laschet declared that he wanted to integrate the former Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz into the future work of the CDU.
"I appreciate him, I appreciate his advice, and he will find his place." After Laschet's narrow victory in the runoff election on January 16, the party feared that there would be a split in the CDU because of the disappointed Merz fans could give.
That would be unfavorable prerequisites for the super election year 2021.
* Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital network.
