The transport minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wst, is to be elected as his successor on Wednesday in the Düsseldorf state parliament. The 46-year-old was elected as the successor of Laschet as the new CDU state party leader in North Rhine-Westphalia on Saturday.
Wst said he was certain that he would be elected prime minister despite a narrow majority in the black-yellow coalition in the state parliament. Laschet had already announced a month ago that he would move to Berlin, where he has now become a member of the German Bundestag. After the Union’s defeat in the federal election, the Union Chancellor candidate had also announced his retirement as CDU leader. He still wants to moderate the process of handing over the office. On Saturday he therefore invited to a CDU district chairperson conference, at which a decision could be made as to whether the CDU should start a member survey about the new party chairman.
In Dsseldorf, the President of the State Parliament, Andr Kuper, presented the certificate of discharge to Laschet on Monday. The 60-year-old Laschet had been head of government in the most populous German state since June 2017. Laschet himself proposed Wst as his successor. The confidence and security that Wst will receive the necessary votes is 100 percent, said the chairman of the CDU parliamentary group, Bodo Lttgen, after deliberations of the group. The CDU was “closed and strong”, stressed Wst. The meeting was a “good launch pad for an important week”. The black-yellow coalition only has a majority of one vote in the state parliament. Wst wanted to consult with the coalition partner FDP on Monday evening.
As the new Prime Minister, Wst wants to tackle the issues of solid finances, internal security and high energy prices. The expansion of renewable energies must take place in such a way that it is accepted by the population, he said.
In 2022, the black and yellow government in North Rhine-Westphalia will have to face a state election. According to surveys, the CDU has lost its support in the Rhine and Ruhr regions, as has all of Germany: According to a WDR survey, the CDU is now only 22 percent – six percentage points less than in April. In return, the SPD gained 31 percent, its best value since the previous state election in 2017. According to the survey, the biggest losers are the Greens, who fall by nine percentage points to 17. The liberal FDP was able to improve slightly to 13 (plus two) compared to the spring. The right AfD has seven (minus one) and the left only three percent. For the first time since 2014, a red-green majority would be conceivable.
