After a member survey, CDU announces new chairman: will it be Röttgen, Braun or Merz?

Created: 12/16/2021, 05:32 PM

Friedrich Merz (rl), Norbert Röttgen and Helge Braun, the three candidates for the CDU chairmanship.

© Michael Kappeler / dpa

On Friday the CDU will announce who has won the membership decision and will become the new chairman of the party.

However, a runoff seems likely.

Berlin - The approximately 400,000 members of the CDU * had until Thursday to decide on a successor to Armin Laschet. The options are: Friedrich Merz, former parliamentary group leader, like Norbert Röttgen *, the second candidate, was also on the list in the last election for CDU chairmanship *. The trio is completed by Helge Braun, the former Chancellery Minister under Angela Merkel *. The result will be announced on December 17th - if no applicant can win an absolute majority, a runoff is necessary.

Shortly before the conclusion of the CDU membership decision, Friedrich Merz * spoke out against letting the party base vote on the Union's next candidate for chancellor.

"A membership decision on such personnel issues will probably remain the exception," he told the newspapers of the Funke media group.

However, he spoke out in favor of greater grassroots participation in “factual issues”.

Election of the CDU chairman: preliminary decision on candidate for chancellor?

When asked whether the election of the new CDU boss was a preliminary decision about the candidate for chancellor, the former group leader said no.

“That also requires respect for the CSU *,” he said.

"Because the CDU does not decide on this question alone, and we will not decide it in the next two years either."

At the same time, Merz emphasized: “The party chairman of the CDU must be able to take over the office of Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany at any time”.

The CDU must first come "close to a plausible claim to take over this office after the next federal election."

Election as chairman of the CDU: Merz wants to talk to Söder about "structural issues"

In the event of his election, Merz announced that he would talk to the CSU chairman Markus Söder * "about some structural questions".

"For the candidacy for chancellor we should find a decision-making mechanism or perhaps an institution from the CDU and CSU in addition to the parliamentary group," he told the Funke newspapers.

The parliamentary group represented the constituencies - “what is missing are the two parties”.

In any case, the two presidia of the CDU and CSU would have to work more closely together.

Basically, according to Merz, the newly elected party leader should also lead the Union parliamentary group.

"The fact that the chairmanship of the CDU and the leadership of the Union parliamentary group should be in one hand is a principle that applies," he told the Funke newspapers.

Video: Röttgen, Merz, Braun: These are the candidates for the CDU chairmanship

Merz made it clear that his third candidacy for the CDU chairmanship was "definitely" the last.

A voter turnout of well over 50 percent in the member vote is "a good sign".

Merz does not expect the decision to be made in the first ballot.

"With three applicants, that's unlikely," he said.

(AFP / fmü)