Perhaps it will soon be possible to succeed Armin Laschet as Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia. Instead of the end of October, a decision on the personnel could be made in a few days. Open on the other hand: the future of the CDU candidate for chancellor.
On day two after the disaster in the federal elections, the impression is strengthened that Armin Laschet is losing control of his political future. Before voting on the historically bad union result, the top candidate had declared that he would give up his post as Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia and go to Berlin “without a return ticket”. He also won the necessary Bundestag mandate through the CDU state list. Until he takes it up on October 26th, he wants to remain head of government in Düsseldorf.
No reason for Laschet to leave immediately
There, however, the search for a successor is already in full swing and the opposition is demanding that the situation be cleared up quickly: “Armin Laschet is not allowed to continue this hanging game any longer,” said SPD country leader Thomas Kutschaty, who is also parliamentary group leader and top candidate for the state elections in May And further: “For the last few months we only had one part-time Prime Minister.” NRW CDU General Secretary Josef Hovenjürgen said, however, that there is currently no reason for Laschet to give up his government office immediately.
A few days ago, Laschet, in his function as head of the NRW CDU, announced the successor decision for after October: Then “we will elect a new state executive, then we will decide on our line-up for the state elections”. But now it is said that the CDU wants to start clarifying the Laschet successor this week and next. According to CDU parliamentary group leader Bodo Löttgen from Tuesday, a decision is to be announced “after the weekend”. Laschet himself will moderate the discussions
Presumably, not only the poor nationwide performance of the CDU should contribute to the rush, but also the fall of the party in favor of voters in North Rhine-Westphalia. The CDU had lost almost seven percentage points compared to the last federal election.
Does Hendrik Wüst do it?
The favorite to succeed the failed candidate for Chancellor seems to be NRW Transport Minister Hendrik Wüst. Rumors that he should have been proclaimed his successor on the post-election Monday have not been confirmed. According to the DPA news agency, few successor names were used in the state board meeting – if so, then most often the name von Wüst. In addition, state building minister Ina Scharrenbach is also in discussion.
Secretary General Hovenjürgen said the timetable for the content and personnel realignment was in place. A new state executive will be elected at the state party conference on October 23 in Bielefeld. Laschet will “submit a personnel proposal to the state board” much earlier “that will guarantee the success of the NRW-CDU in the future too”.
While the first personnel issues are already being discussed in distant Düsseldorf and the next election is being prepared, Armin Laschet has to fight for his future in the federal capital. And as far as they are concerned, everything is possible: from the chancellor to the opposition leader to the simple MP. As far as the chairmanship of the Union’s political group and thus the leading role is concerned, Laschet has already faced serious competition. When the members of the CDU and CSU meet for their first meeting on Tuesday, Ralph Brinkhaus wants to be elected chairman. A plan that, according to media reports, has tried in vain to dissuade him from Armin Laschet.
This is the start of the power struggle in the Union – the outcome is open. Because CSU boss Markus Söder, anyway not good to speak of Laschet, had stated that the CSU had “very good experiences” with Brinkhaus. “There are others too, but that would be an option.” For the candidate for chancellor, the Brinkhaus election would be a defeat. Especially in the event that he should not head a Jamaica coalition.
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