There is almost exactly a year to go until the next federal election. The Union is now clarifying the famous K question. And this time the loser wants to pull together.
The Union wants to enter the 2025 federal election with CDU chairman Friedrich Merz as candidate for chancellor and replace the traffic light coalition. “The K question has been decided. Friedrich Merz will do it,” said CSU leader Markus Söder in Berlin after a conversation with Merz. “I’m fine with that and I expressly support it.” Merz believes that the Union is well prepared after the preliminary decision on the question of the candidate for chancellor. “We are set up, in terms of personnel, politics, and organization. The CDU and CSU can now enter a federal election campaign.”
The CDU and CSU leadership committees are expected to make the final decision on the K question next Monday. It can be assumed that they will approve the decision to choose Merz with a large majority. The next federal election will take place as usual on September 28th next year.
Make Germany functional again
Merz stressed that the Union wants to take over leadership responsibility in Germany again next year – “with a policy that brings Germany forward again, with a policy that allows the country to function again, and with a policy that perhaps also makes us proud again of our country, of Germany.”
Boss in Berlin and boss in Bavaria
Söder stressed that he supported Merz without gnashing his teeth. “He has my full backing. And, and this is important, I have a very high personal appreciation for him.” There is only one goal for the Union, and that is to “replace the traffic light coalition and get Germany back on track.”
He himself will remain CSU chairman and prime minister in Bavaria. This is the strongest formation of the Union. “Friedrich Merz is the boss in Berlin, I remain boss in Bavaria,” said the CSU leader, who lost the K question to Armin Laschet (CDU) in 2021 and then constantly taunted him during the election campaign.
Migration and economy as possible election campaign topics
Merz also outlined the Union’s election campaign line: the issue of migration remains important, but he would prefer to resolve it beforehand together with the traffic light coalition.
Economic policy will be a key issue. “The economic situation in Germany is precarious,” said Merz. The general conditions in Germany must improve again so that the economy as a whole can get back on its feet.
CDU regional associations signal approval
The day before, NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst had already withdrawn himself from the race for the candidacy for chancellor and sent a strong signal to Merz, whom he assured of his full backing as chairman of the most powerful CDU regional association. After the decision was announced, numerous other regional associations declared their support for Merz.
“Friedrich Merz is exactly the right man at the right time,” said Hesse’s CDU leader and Prime Minister Boris Rhein, for example. Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner, who had a falling out with Merz in the past over the loosening of the debt brake, now wrote on Platform X: “I support Friedrich Merz with all my strength.” Similar positive reactions came from the CDU associations in Saarland, Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony, among others.
Critical voices from other parties
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who wants to run for the SPD again next year, reacted calmly. “I’m happy if Mr Merz is the Union’s candidate for chancellor,” he said in response to a question from a journalist in Astana, Kazakhstan.
FDP chairman Christian Lindner congratulated Merz, but added: “After clarity on personnel, clarity on content should now follow.” The FDP is fighting for an economic turnaround and against the debt-ridden state, for freedom and against paternalism. “We have heard a lot of criticism from the Union, but no ideas yet that could make Germany stronger.”
The reaction of the Left Party leader Janine Wissler was sharper: “Hardly anyone in the CDU embodies the type of backward-looking person as much as Merz,” she told the “Rheinische Post”. The Green Party leader Ricarda Lang told the “Tagesspiegel”: “We are looking forward to a sporting competition for the best ideas for the future of the country, not for its past.”
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.
