The CDU leader is now also chairman of the CDU and CSU parliamentary groups in the Bundestag. Friedrich Merz replaces Ralph Brinkhaus.
The new CDU leader Friedrich Merz can now also intervene as opposition leader in the Bundestag in the dispute with the traffic light coalition.
The Union faction elected the 66-year-old chairman on Tuesday with a large majority – he had held this office from 2000 to 2002. Merz replaces Ralph Brinkhaus (CDU), who decided not to run again. With the bundling of the most important functions at Merz, the CDU is completing its reorganization after the disaster in the federal elections for the time being.
According to information from parliamentary groups, Merz received 162 of 186 votes cast in the election. The Union faction has a total of 197 MPs. Merz was only elected the new CDU chairman in January. He withdrew from the Bundestag in 2009 to pursue a career in business and only returned to parliament in the 2021 federal elections.
CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt proposed Merz for election on behalf of and after consultation with party leader Markus Söder. Söder had stayed in Munich because of a major corona debate in the state parliament.
Merz future leader of the opposition
With his election as head of the CDU/CSU deputies, Merz is considered the leader of the opposition in the Bundestag. This is not an official office, but an informal function. For the Sauerland, however, it was important to hold the leadership of the parliamentary group in addition to the office of CDU chairman in the opposition. Because in the opposition there are only a few high-profile posts for a party. His future appearances in the Bundestag should ensure Merz significantly more media presence than if he were only CDU chairman.
As in 2002 with Merkel: Merz ousted parliamentary group leader Brinkhaus
Actually, the previous faction leader Brinkhaus wanted to stay in office. He was originally elected until the end of April. However, after his election as CDU chairman, Merz decided to take the chair himself and pushed Brinkhaus out of office. That’s what the then CDU leader Angela Merkel did 20 years ago with Merz, who was the leader of the parliamentary group at the time – to his great annoyance. In 2005, Merkel was elected chancellor.
Merz explained that Brinkhaus remains an active and important member of the parliamentary group. He would like to take advantage of Brinkhaus’ skills and support.
The 53-year-old Brinkhaus had waived his candidacy again in a letter to the deputies at the end of January. In doing so, he avoided another power struggle before the state elections in Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia in March and May, which are important for the CDU. The CDU heads of government of the three federal states are fighting for re-election. In the Union it was feared that new internal disputes would have deterred supporters of the Christian Democrats, especially after the power struggles of the past few years – for example over the CDU presidency and the chancellor candidacy.
Great support for Merz at the election party conference in January
Merz received 95.33 percent of the 1001 delegate votes in the postal vote at the end of January, which was necessary for legal reasons after an online election party conference. At the online meeting on January 22, he came to 94.62 percent according to the CDU bill. The CDU had re-elected its entire leadership. She drew the conclusion from the worst Union result of 24.1 percent in the federal elections last September. In December, in the first member survey of the CDU for the party chairmanship, Merz was chosen with 62.1 percent as the successor to Armin Laschet, who had failed as a candidate for chancellor.
Source: Stern
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