At the Junge Union's Germany Day it becomes clear: Nobody dreams of Jamaica anymore.
The Union is preparing for the opposition.
CDU leader Armin Laschet takes the electoral defeat fully on his hat.
There are also belligerent tones.
Münster - Around three weeks after the historic election defeat of the Union, CDU leader Armin Laschet and his party vice-president Jens Spahn have agreed to play an opposition role. Union Chancellor candidate Laschet took sole responsibility for the poor performance of the Union in the federal election. "We achieved a bitter result," he said on Saturday at the Junge Union's Germany Day in Münster. “Nothing can be talked about nicely. I am responsible as chairman and candidate for chancellor. "
Laschet made it clear that he sees the Union in an opposition role in the federal government. In the opposition, it is particularly important to "appear together and unanimously" and "wisely and intelligently put your finger in the wound" if a future government makes mistakes. The leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP presented a joint paper on the outcome of their exploratory talks in Berlin on Friday and called for coalition negotiations.
At the Germany Day of the CDU and CSU youth organization, the focus was on renewal after the crash to 24.1 percent. Two more recent surveys see the Union currently even below 20 percent. The CDU wants to re-elect its party executive at a special party conference. Laschet also warned with a view to several upcoming state elections that it must go against the political opponent again and "not against each other in the Union family". He wants to put his own political ambitions aside. The delegates paid their respects to Laschet for his self-critical analysis. JU boss Tilman Kuban spoke of "brutal honesty", of "true greatness".
CSU boss Markus Söder, on the other hand, had canceled at short notice, which many delegates criticized in their speeches. Söder had been defeated in the internal struggle for the candidacy for chancellor and had repeatedly poked at Laschet. In “Welt am Sonntag” he now campaigned for a new cooperation between the two sister parties. "In terms of style and content, we should move closer together again instead of talking publicly about each other," said Söder. "The CSU will therefore not give any public advice, but - if so desired - help to stabilize the Union."
Health Minister Jens Spahn criticized distrust and conflict. He admitted: "It was a shitty election result and so is the situation." The Union will be a constructive opposition. At the same time, he was combative: "The CDU is not finished." Spahn called for team spirit instead of "running show". “It's not about Armin, Friedrich, Jens, Ralph or whoever,” he called to great applause in the hall. “The Union is bigger than any of us.” Spahn, the economic expert Friedrich Merz, Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus or the foreign politician Norbert Röttgen are named as candidates for the successor to Laschet. Brinkhaus wanted to comment on the shooting of Germany Day on Sunday in Münster.
Laschet rejected Merz 'representation, who had described the Union on Friday at the beginning of the JU conference as a "serious restructuring case at risk of insolvency". Merz had asked his party not to focus on personnel issues, but on the content. "We should only deal with the question of how do we get out of there?"
Laschet's designated successor for his offices as prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia and state party leader, Hendrik Wüst, appealed: “We lost the federal election, yes.
And as things stand, we have also lost government participation, yes.
But we mustn't also lose our attitude, our behavior and our self-respect. ”In order to win the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in May 2022, the party must regain the political center, said Transport Minister Wüst.
Laschet had recently proposed as his successor in North Rhine-Westphalia.
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Jamaica?
“Not with Armin Laschet” - CDU base in the east is going on the barricades
The SPD leader railed against the loser Armin Laschet.
The CDU chairman should finally recognize the electoral defeat.
In the CDU, too, more and more people are calling for his resignation.
Jamaica?
“Not with Armin Laschet” - CDU base in the east is going on the barricades
Economic politician Carsten Linnemann said that after the Union's relegation from the first to the second division it was now a matter of “humility, attitude, but also the future.” He spoke out “in this very special situation” in favor of a membership decision for the party chairmanship.
“We have to become a member party again.” Laschet, on the other hand, was skeptical.
The chairman of the group of women in the Union parliamentary group, Yvonne Magwas, advocated a CDU dual leadership with equal representation.
The JU federal executive board went tough with the parent parties in an application.
“Unfortunately, Armin Laschet could not reach people's hearts.
Quite the opposite: many voters did not vote for the Union because of the availability of staff, ”it said there.
“Such a candidacy is not a one-man show.
Neither in victory nor in defeat. ”Only a few in the federal cabinet were helpful in the election campaign.
Even the leaders of the CDU and CSU “did not look good”.
And: "We lost out of our own weakness, not because of the strength of others." Dpa
