Merz before re-election after two decades - Söder stays away from the Union decision
Created: 02/15/2022 13:46
Friedrich Merz, CDU party chairman, wants to conquer the joint chairmanship of the CDU and CSU.
On February 15, the Union faction wants to elect him as their new boss.
© Florian Gaertner/imago
Merz wants to take the next step this Tuesday: he wants to become the leader of the Union parliamentary group.
How many votes does he get?
Berlin – After the CDU party chairmanship, Friedrich Merz wants to conquer the joint chairmanship of the CDU and CSU.
This Tuesday (February 15), the Union faction wants to elect him as their new boss.
The meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m.
It is considered certain that Merz will receive a majority of the 197 MPs from the CDU and CSU.
However, it is eagerly awaited how strong the support is that the 66-year-old economic politician is receiving.
Merz was already chairman of the Union faction from 2000 to 2002.
He withdrew from the Bundestag in 2009 to pursue a career in business and only returned to parliament in the 2021 federal elections.
Election of Merz as Union faction leader is pending: Söder stays away
CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt wants to propose Merz as the successor to faction leader Ralph Brinkhaus (CDU).
According to the CSU, this is done on behalf of and after consultation with party leader Markus Söder, who is staying in Munich for a major corona debate.
"I'm not the leader of the opposition, that will be Friedrich Merz," Söder recently
told the
Rheinische Post .
According to the working rules of the parliamentary group, the CSU leader is entitled to give advice on the parliamentary group executive committee.
With his election as head of the CDU/CSU deputies, Merz becomes opposition leader in the Bundestag.
This is not an official office, but an informal function.
For the Sauerland, however, it was important to hold the leadership of the parliamentary group in addition to the office of CDU chairman in the opposition.
Because in the opposition there are only a few high-profile posts for a party.
His future appearances in the Bundestag should ensure Merz significantly more media presence than if he were only CDU chairman.
Group chairmanship: Linke calls for Merz to restart the relationship between the parties
The left in the Bundestag asked Friedrich Merz in advance to restart their relationship with each other.
"It is high time to end the split in the democratic camp in the Bundestag by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group," said parliamentary secretary of the left-wing parliamentary group, Jan Korte, to the
Rheinische Post
.
After his election as parliamentary group leader, Merz must "send a clear signal and end the dangerous equation of red and brown," said Korte.
By excluding cooperation with the left and the AfD, this equation has been pursued by the Union faction for years.
The CDU incompatibility decision prohibits the Christian Democrats from collaborating with the AfD and the left alike.
The CDU chairman Friedrich Merz is to be elected Union faction leader today.
The necessary majority in the afternoon session is considered safe, since there are no opposing candidates.
Incumbent Ralph Brinkhaus (CDU) announced his resignation from the post at the end of January.
(afp/dpa)
