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CDU chairman Friedrich Merz at the party conference in Hanover:
Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa
Shortly before nine that evening, a very relieved CDU chairman can be seen in hall three of the Hanover Fair.
Shortly before that, at the end of a passionate debate, Friedrich Merz personally campaigned for the acceptance of the quota application at the lectern, now the result of the vote is displayed behind him: 559 yes, 409 no votes, eleven abstentions – with that, the Federal Party Congress decided to introduce a temporary and gradual quota for women.
It should be a medium-heavy chunk that Merz is falling from the heart at this moment.
In the run-up to the party congress, he had played down the matter to the best of his ability, referring to much more important issues that the CDU had to deal with these days.
"We will also talk about ourselves," he said at the beginning of the delegates' meeting on Friday afternoon, but what was decisive were the substantive messages from this party congress.
But Merz knew, of course, that a vote against the quota would have superseded everything else and noticeably scratched his authority after nine months as chairman.
Now the signal after day one of the party congress is: The CDU dares to enter the quota, the majority of the delegates have followed their chairman.
And that leaves room for other things.
Or better: there would also be room for something else.
Apart from quota little sticks
Because in fact it is like this: Apart from the quota debate, little will stick on this Friday.
For the fact that the CDU comes together for the first time almost three years after the last federal party conference in Leipzig, the event ripples until the evening.
It is obvious how much many delegates are looking forward to the meeting after various digital meetings in recent years.
But that is more evident between the exhibitor stands in the neighboring hall.
There's wine and beer in the afternoon.
“With a clear course.
More security for Germany” is the motto of the party congress.
But the ship CDU, almost a year after falling from the federal government, still seems to be on a lurching course.
Merz also offers little in the way of concrete information in his 45-minute speech: he bangs on at traffic lights, caresses his own party, and hardly offers any concrete suggestions for Germany's way out of the energy and price crisis.
Merz's central statement: Under his leadership, the CDU will stay on course when it comes to Ukraine, and Germany will have to endure possible hardships.
The applause for this is friendly but not frenetic.
And it remains to be seen whether his party will follow him permanently once it gets cold in the country.
It only gets emotional in the hall when the debate on the quota for women begins at around 7 p.m.
"Don't panic, it's just equality"
General Secretary Mario Czaja can also see how concerned the party leadership is when he prepares the party conference for the topic.
Czaja appealed to the delegates several times: "Let's conduct the debate properly." And the Women's Union has also taken possible negative emotional outbursts against the quota into account.
She hands out donuts with pink icing, the pack reads: "Don't panic, it's just equality."
Finally, 34 delegates want to speak on the proposal for a women's quota, far more than on all other proposals.
A suggestion by a delegate to break off the debate after more than a dozen speeches because all arguments had been exchanged was rejected.
For the first time that day, there was a desire to discuss in the hall, and the CDU seemed to be finally waking up at their own party conference.
According to one side, there are still far too few women in top positions in the party.
"Does anyone in this room still believe in 2022 that this is due to the lack of performance among women?" The problem lies elsewhere, the other side counters.
»There is no women’s quota in the world that ensures that my children are picked up from the day care center at noon.«
»The quota is not the stuff of the devil, it is a tool!«
"The quota is an attack on inner-party democracy."
»Quota woman is a slogan to discredit women who are better than their competition.«
"I want to be elected based on my ideas, not my gender."
“Unfortunately, what we as the CDU have demonstrated over the past few decades is that we would not have achieved our goals without a quota.”
So it goes back and forth spiritedly, until at the end party leader Merz speaks again.
He knows it's going to be tight.
Merz leans on the lectern and looks into the hall.
In any case, the quota only applies if enough women run for office.
"Don't we dare to make such a small leap forward anymore?" he calls into the hall.
Merz brings his index finger and thumb very close together to show how small the step is from his point of view.
But as small as the step may be practical: For the CDU, it's about the nitty-gritty.
And hardly anyone should know that better than the chairman himself, who used to be the figurehead of the conservatives in his party.
Merz himself was against the quota for a long time, in the end he only made friends with the idea, the party leader explains his change of heart, because nothing else worked.
And that the CDU must appear more women-friendly in order to be successful again in federal elections in the future - this thought has been driving the strategist Merz ever since he was elected chairman.
In the end it is not an overwhelming majority for the quota, but in view of the fierce resistance of parts of the CDU, 57 percent is almost surprisingly high.
And the Christian Democrats have at least found the political passion and enthusiasm for debate that Merz had promised his party when he took office on this topic.
