In the eastern German states, the CDU has lost even more than elsewhere. The frustration over the unsuccessful election campaign is great. However, the criticism hits the top candidate most sharply.
First came the crash, now billing is approaching. After the CDU election debacle in East Germany, several district associations openly take a stand against party leader Armin Laschet. From the point of view of many people, the Rhinelander was the wrong candidate, wrote the CDU district executive Altenburger Land in Thuringia to the Berlin party headquarters. The option to participate in the next federal government must remain. “However, that cannot happen with Armin Laschet.”
The Union was hit particularly badly in the Bundestag election on Sunday in the east. Nationwide, the CDU / CSU dropped by 8.8 points to 24.1 percent compared to 2017 – in eastern Germany it was 10.3 points minus and at the end only 17.1 percent. There, however, the SPD made significant gains. The CDU shock seems particularly big in Thuringia and Saxony, where the AfD came first. In Saxony, the right-wing populists of the Union chased 13 direct mandates.
Michael Kretschmer: real disaster for the Union
“I think that this result is a real disaster for the Union in Germany,” said the visibly shaken Saxon state chief Michael Kretschmer on Monday and spoke of “errors in terms of content and also in the personnel line-up”. In the meantime, more and more politicians in the East German CDU are openly naming names.
“Laschet’s personality lay like lead on our election campaign,” said the new head of the Saxon CDU member of the Bundestag, Carsten Koerber, of the MDR. And the Thuringian parliamentary group leader Mario Voigt on “Bild”: “Seriously, nobody will doubt that the top candidate has not been a draft horse in the East.”
CSU boss Markus Söder had many fans in the eastern CDU regional associations from the start and is now being brought up again as a substitute. The previous CDU member of the Bundestag Christoph Bernstiel from Saxony-Anhalt demands that Söder should take over the coalition negotiations for the Union. If that happens, then the chance in Jamaica would increase drastically, said Bernstiel of the German press agency. The acceptance for Söder is still much higher than that for Laschet.
East representative Wanderwitz gets his fat off
The open letter from the Altenburger Land district association clearly names Laschet as the “loser of the election”. The district association Schmalkalden-Meiningen, also located in Thuringia, demands: “The party chairman and the entire board should clear the way for the necessary staff and content renewal of the Union.”
This is one of the district associations that had set up the controversial former constitutional protector Hans-Georg Maaßen as a direct candidate. Maaßen failed, but still has advice ready for the party leadership: “I think it is important that the relevant people on the federal executive board also draw personal conclusions from the debacle.”
In addition to Laschet, the previous Saxon regional group leader and Eastern Commissioner Marco Wanderwitz also got the anger of his party colleagues from time to time. In the summer, Wanderwitz had associated right-wing tendencies with the fact that some East Germans are “socialized by dictatorship in such a way that even after thirty years they have not reached democracy”. He later said: “There is a clear connection between the approval for the AfD and the rejection of vaccinations.” Both caused debate and frustration.
CDU had the wrong topics
“What has hurt us very, very much, is Wanderwitz ‘statement about high corona numbers in our region and the support for the AfD,” said the Görlitz CDU district administrator Bernd Lange of the DPA. In the constituency of Görlitz, the AfD had done better than anywhere else. “Wanderwitz should be calm now and think about what he has done there,” said Lange. In any case, Wanderwitz has lost his post as head of the Saxon regional group.
But Lange also knows that it wasn’t just about people. The CDU has “abandoned many issues in the past few years that were important in the past. Conscription is such an example.” Voigt from Thuringia said that the “Berlin-Mitte issues” simply passed people by. “It’s also about the question of whether the East played a role in the election campaign,” said Voigt at “Bild”. “Many were amazed that people talked over their heads.”
The new Saxon regional group leader, Körber, is in the same direction. “We didn’t hit and play the topics that really interest people in the East,” said the CDU politician of the DPA. You talked past the people. The election campaign material from Berlin, for example on climate protection, did not fit. Nothing was said about issues such as migration policy or rural mobility. It was the “worst election campaign” he had ever seen.
Little influence in the party, hardly a hearing in Berlin – the complaint is loud, but it should not be easier for the CDU politicians from the East. Together, the East German CDU regional groups – including Berlin – still have 25 members in the Bundestag. They would now have to get together even closer, demands Körber, in order to “still be a voice in Berlin at all”.
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
