The Union’s K question could soon be solved: NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst has withdrawn from the race for chancellor candidates and is campaigning for CDU leader Merz.
The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst (CDU), has spoken out in favor of federal chairman Friedrich Merz being a candidate for chancellor. He himself is not seeking to be a candidate for chancellor next year, Wüst said on Monday after a board meeting of the state CDU in Düsseldorf. Wüst also called on the sister party CSU to support Merz’s candidacy because “that would enormously increase the Union’s joint election chances.”
Hendrik Wüst refrains from running for chancellor – and campaigns for Friedrich Merz
He asked the board of the North Rhine-Westphalia CDU for support for Merz as a candidate for chancellor and received “a lot of support” for this, Wüst continued. The 49-year-old was considered a candidate for the Union’s candidacy for chancellor alongside Merz and the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder. He is the chairman of the NRW CDU, which, as the state association with the largest number of members, has particular influence in the CDU.
By resigning, he wants to strengthen the unity of the Union – and contribute to an electoral victory in the federal election next year, said Wüst. “Germany’s first step out of the crisis is to replace this federal government – and this requires a Union that is as strong as it is united.”
Clear message to the CSU and Markus Söder
Wüst also justified his decision with the experiences of the 2021 election year, when the open dispute between then CDU leader Armin Laschet and CSU politician Söder over the candidacy for chancellor weakened the Union as a whole. “Something like this must never happen again in the Union,” said Wüst.
Addressing the CSU, whose leader Söder has recently repeatedly expressed his own interest in the candidacy for chancellor, Wüst said: “I would be very happy if the CSU also supported Friedrich Merz as a strong candidate.” It remains the case that CDU leader Merz and CSU leader Söder will soon settle the question of candidacy in a joint decision.
Note: This article has been updated
Source: Stern
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