Merkel return?
Merz strikes an unfamiliar note
Created: 12/24/2021, 06:07 AM
From: Bedrettin Bölükbasi
In an interview, the future CDU chairman Friedrich Merz emphasized that he wanted to see a bond between the party and Angela Merkel in the future.
© Stephanie Pilick / picture-alliance / dpa / dpaweb
The future CDU chairman Friedrich Merz indicated that he wanted to continue to involve Angela Merkel in the future.
Is a return of the former Chancellor coming?
Berlin / Munich - Angela Merkel (CDU) led Germany as Chancellor for 16 years. After the federal election in 2021, she was replaced by the new Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and ended her long and intense political career. Merkel's last parliamentary group meeting was evidently emotional, after all, she acted as CDU party leader for 18 years. A 30-year membership is coming to an end for her, she emphasized.
A member survey now shows: In the future, the party will be headed by Friedrich Merz.
In the survey, Merz prevailed against the other candidates Helge Braun and Norbert Röttgen.
The relationship between Merkel and Merz was not easy, but long shattered.
But now there are conciliatory tones from the future CDU boss, which could almost mean Merkel's reappearance on the political stage.
Merz pays tribute to the work of former Chancellor Merkel: future CDU boss wants to involve her - "completely underestimated"
Merz indicated that Merkel might want to involve him during his tenure. "I would be happy if Angela Merkel and the CDU stay together in the future, it won't fail because of me," Merz said in an interview with
Spiegel
. He wanted to have "a good relationship" with all of his four living predecessors. "The decent dealings with one another," said Merz, is part of the party DNA. According to him, the internal climate in the CDU was recently difficult. Now he wants to improve it.
Merz's unfamiliar tones towards Merkel even went a step further.
He appreciated her work.
The party "completely underestimated" Merkel, the future chairman told
Spiegel
and added that her contributions had not been appreciated enough.
“Take a look at our tour a good 20 years ago: Kohl, Schäuble, Rühe, Koch, Wulff, Müller.
At that time, women played practically no role in management, ”emphasized Merz.
Merkel was “clearly” a “pacemaker in women's politics” in this regard.
Merz as a critic of Merkel: He accused lack of “political leadership” - wanted the Merkel era to end early
The conciliatory tones of the future CDU chairman are therefore very unusual and a surprise, since Merz has always criticized the former chancellor heavily in the past. Perhaps the difficult relationship is only defused because the Merkel era is over and Merz himself is in the foreground, but the fact is: he often shot at her.
After historically poor election results for both the CDU and the SPD in the 2019 state election in Thuringia, he saw Chancellor Angela Merkel responsible. The results were "a great vote of no confidence" against the grand coalition, he said at the time. Merz accused Merkel of “inaction” and a lack of “political leadership and clear statements”. In the course of this criticism, he even pleaded for an early end of Merkel's chancellorship. "I simply cannot imagine that this type of governance in Germany will last two years," said von Merz at the time.
Only a year ago he criticized Merkel for having pushed the state into “the role of a reinsurer for all social risks” and for targeting her crisis policy.
You have led the Union "solidly and scandal-free" through the years, but there should not be a "business as usual", he emphasized.
The latest statements from Merz now indicate a change in the relationship with Merkel.
(bb)
