The CDU is looking for ways to end the AfD soaring in polls. At the party congress, there are sharp attacks on the traffic light government. And the party leader puts a tip against possible competitors.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz has given a clear rejection of any cooperation with the AfD. “There will be no cooperation with this party for us, neither in the European Parliament, nor in the German Bundestag, nor in any state parliament in Germany. It will not exist,” said Merz at the small CDU party conference in Berlin to prolonged applause from around 160 delegates. At the same time, Merz tried to get his party in the mood for the upcoming state election campaigns in the fall with violent attacks on the traffic light government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
He warns those voters who believe they can put pressure on the Union by voting for the AfD, said Merz: “Every vote for such a party is a vote for the traffic light, for red, green and yellow.” The AfD is classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a suspected right-wing extremist. A CDU federal party convention decision prohibits any cooperation between the Christian Democrats and the AfD and the left.
In surveys, the AfD is sometimes 19 percent in the federal government, making it the second strongest force behind the Union and ahead of the SPD and the Greens. In Thuringia and Saxony, the AfD was in first place in the most recent polls, in Brandenburg it was at a similar level to the CDU and SPD. In these three countries are 2024 state elections.
Merz attacked the traffic light government in several fields. In energy-intensive industry, for example, 30 percent of the workforce is at risk. This is not the turning point proclaimed by Chancellor Scholz, but “a serious threat to the prosperity of our country”. Meanwhile, frustration among the population is growing, Merz warned. So it’s no wonder that 87 percent of surveys answered in the affirmative whether politicians were distancing themselves from society. “These are symptoms of a real crisis in our democracy.”
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) also attacked the federal government: “The traffic light sows conflict and uncertainty, allows issues to flare up until social conflicts ignite.” This is “a danger to democracy”.
Verbal tip towards Wüst and Günther
Merz reacted to newspaper articles by Wüst and his Schleswig-Holstein colleague Daniel Günther with a verbal tip. He is happy about the publication of contributions by name, said the party chairman. If he read them carefully, he could not see any contradictions. He only has one heartfelt request: “If perhaps the last paragraph of these posts also refers to the others who have written similarly good posts, then that will bring us all forward together. Then the others will be happy – and honestly: me too.”
Wüst had warned his party in a name article for the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”: “Those who only make cheap points and chase after the populists are laying the ax to their own roots and throwing themselves into chaos.” The CDU should “continue to be the center’s anchor of stability in the future.”
Name contribution of Wüst delimitation of Merz?
Some in the CDU had classified Wüst’s name behind closed doors as a distinction from Merz. In addition to the party leader, Wüst is also given a chance for the next chancellor candidacy in the CDU. Wüst leads a coalition with the Greens in North Rhine-Westphalia. There are concerns in the party that Merz will find it difficult to reach the middle of society with his politics. This is one of the reasons why the survey values of the Union are below the 30 percent mark.
Shortly before the party conference, Günther had said to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” when asked what he now recommends to the CDU: “Central course, stay linguistically clean, don’t debate gender and other trivial matters – just don’t tell people shit. ” Populist banging doesn’t help the CDU, “people go seamlessly to the AfD”. Merz was also criticized internally after he wrote on Twitter at the beginning of June on the subject of gender, among other things: “With every gendered news program, a few hundred more votes go to the AfD.”
CDU: Don’t punish anyone who doesn’t use gender asterisks
In a resolution, the CDU is campaigning against “gender language” in authorities, schools, universities and public broadcasting. A motion to this effect was accepted with two votes against and three abstentions. The delegates unanimously supported the demands of the party leadership to improve children’s educational opportunities with compulsory German courses for preschool children with language deficits, a “child future allowance” and closer integration of day-care centers and schools. The CDU also recalled the popular uprising of June 17, 1953 in the GDR and the people’s commitment to freedom at the time.
Last generation blocks road on site of party congress
Climate activists from the group Last Generation temporarily blocked parts of a street in front of the party headquarters during the delegates’ meeting. The chairman of the youth union from the Junge Union, Johannes Winkel, briefly sat down next to one of the activists on the street.
policy convention on Saturday
This Saturday, the CDU wants to take the next step in developing its new basic program with a large convention in Berlin. The discussions at the convention with around 500 guests are to be included in the new policy programme. A federal party conference at the beginning of May next year is to finally decide on the program.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
