Tension rises in the CDU party headquarters in Berlin. In the afternoon, the result of the member survey on the party leadership will be published here. One candidate in particular feels confident of victory.
Friedrich Merz, Norbert Röttgen or Helge Braun – this Friday it will be decided who will win the race for the CDU party chairmanship. Since December 4th, the party members have had time to vote on their favorites for the successor to party leader Armin Laschet – a first in the history of the CDU. Now General Secretary Paul Ziemiak is to announce the result of the member survey at 2 p.m. The three candidates are also present at the presentation in the party headquarters in Berlin. Within the party, Merz is still considered the applicant with the best chances.
Almost two thirds of the approximately 400,000 CDU members took part in the survey. According to CDU information, exactly 248,360 members took part – 64.3 percent of all party book owners. the party announced that 132,617 members voted online (53.4 percent), while 115,743 members had voted by letter (46.6 percent) – and thanked them: “Almost a quarter of a million took part in the #member survey, almost two thirds of all @ CDU members. Thank you for this strong participation! “
That is what the candidates stand for
The three applicants are considered to be representatives of different directions in the CDU. Ex-Union faction leader Merz is still considered a darling of the conservatives and the business wing. His supporters hope that he will bring him back to a clear, conservative profile that was missing from the then Chancellor and CDU leader Angela Merkel.
The foreign politician Röttgen is considered modern by his supporters and is politically located in the middle. Also among the representatives of the political center is the former head of the Chancellery, Helge Braun – who is accused by internal critics of standing for a continuation of Merkel’s policy. Röttgen and Merz had already run for chairmanship at the beginning of the year – and then lost to Laschet at a party congress. For Merz it is even the third attempt at the party chairmanship after losing to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer after Merkel’s withdrawal from the chairmanship in December 2018.
If none of the applicants received more than 50 percent of the votes in the first round, a runoff election will be necessary. This would start on December 29th and last through January 12th. According to the CDU’s plans, the result of a possible second round will be announced on January 14th. Officially, the new chairman has to be one of the 1001 delegates of a digital party congress on 21./22. January to be elected. The choice must then be confirmed by postal vote.
These are the tasks of the new CDU chairman
Anyone who becomes the new party leader could also take over the chairmanship of the parliamentary group. Union faction leader Ralph Brinkhaus (CDU) would like to exercise his office beyond April – until then he will be elected for the time being. Röttgen and Braun have already made it clear that they do not intend to take the chair. It could look different if Merz wins. Although he has not yet officially made a claim to the top position in the parliamentary group, it is not unlikely that he will do so.
Merz told the Funke media group: “The fact that the chairmanship of the CDU and the leadership of the Union parliamentary group should be in one hand is a principle that applies.” When asked whether Brinkhaus could look for a new job if he was elected party leader, Merz added: “I’m really not thinking about this topic at the moment. This question is currently not on the agenda.” At the same time he emphasized: “Ralph Brinkhaus and I get along well.”
The new CDU chairman therefore has to deal with numerous tasks. It is to be expected that he will reposition the Adenauerhaus, the party headquarters. This should lay the foundation for work in the opposition within the party. In addition to the personnel realignment of the entire party leadership at the online party congress in January, one of the most important tasks of the new party leader is likely to include the content-related profiling of the CDU. Also internally, in connection with the election campaign, the party seemed emaciated in terms of content after Merkel’s 16 years in the Chancellery.
Stressed relationship with the CSU
In the spring, Laschet had a ten-day power struggle with CSU leader Markus Söder over the Union’s candidacy for chancellor, which Laschet won. During the election campaign there were repeated taunts of Söders against Laschet. The relationship between the two Union sisters has been considered strained ever since. For the future CDU chairman, it will be a matter of rebuilding a normal, partnership-based relationship with Söder.
He told the “Augsburger Allgemeine”: “We are all happy that the process of re-establishment will be completed with a new CDU chairman. After this difficult year, we in the Union must do everything we can to grow closer together again. The new CDU chairman and I, as the CSU chairman, know that cohesion can be improved. “
Source From: Stern
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