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After the controversial statements of the president of the CDU, Friedrich Merz, on the postponement of the party congress, a dispute has broken out in the CDU on how to proceed. Several prominent Union politicians had harshly criticized Merz for his statement on Tuesday; others tried to reduce the escalation.
Merz himself confirmed his desire to hold the party congress in December. His opponents in the race for party leadership, Armin Laschet and Norbert Röttgen, instead defended the postponement.
Laschet protects Merz from Trump comparisons
The parties would have to be a role model in the crown pandemic and would not be able to meet 1,000 delegates for a party congress, the prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia said on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting in Düsseldorf. That was the “only motivation” for postponing the party congress.
At the same time he defended his rival Merz. It is understandable “that emotions are also involved in such a candidacy”, but comparing Merz with Trump “is completely out of place.” Merz had weathered the canceled party congress primarily on Twitter, and various media outlets compared him to the US president, who was constantly weathered.
External CDU expert Röttgen announced a party conference in January against the newspaper “Bild”. He is assuming an online party congress will be held on January 16: “Now we have to agree to find a plan that also elects a president at the beginning of the year.”
CDU is working on a digital party conference, if needed, not until spring
The CDU party congress was originally scheduled for December 4 in Stuttgart with 1001 delegates. The federal board decided Monday to postpone the date in light of the sharp increase in the number of corona infections. Even if a face-to-face group conference is not possible at the beginning of the new year, a digital group conference should be held. If there is still no legal basis for this, there should be a digital party congress with a round of submissions and a subsequent vote-by-mail. That could cause a delay until spring.
After the decision, Merz had made massive accusations in various interviews with the party leadership. He reproached parts of the “party establishment” for wanting to prevent him as leader of the CDU. The cancellation of the electoral party conference is “the last part of the ‘prevent Merz’ campaign in the CDU.” In an interview with Die Welt, Merz said: “I have very clear and unequivocal indications that Armin Laschet issued the slogan: he needs more time to improve his performance.”
“Silly, wrong and absurd”
Parts of the Union approached Merz briskly for remarks Tuesday. The postponement of the CDU party congress “has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with whether this or that party should be president,” Hessian Prime Minister Volker Bouffier said in an interview with the “FAZ”. He considers Merz’s statements to be “stupid, wrong and absurd.”
Digital State Minister Dorothee Bär (CSU) called Merz’s accusations against the “establishment” of the party “more than a steep thesis.” In the “Welt” interview, he praised the postponement of the CDU party conference. “I think a good candidate will continue to be a good candidate next spring,” Bär said.
CDU Secretary General Ziemiak is trying to slow the escalation
CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt also warned against using the wrong language in the current debate. The CDU is fully operational and must now demonstrate unity. Otherwise, one creates the impression that personal concern takes precedence over general well-being. Observing Merz’s accusations, Dobrindt said, “The art of taking on the highest positions is mastering the unexpected.”
The CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak meanwhile tried Deutschlandfunk through mediation. The reason for postponing the decision on the party presidency until the new year is the corona infection situation, without strategic party considerations. Ziemiak refuted Merz’s accusation that the terms of many party congress delegates ended on December 7: if the delegates could not be re-elected due to the infection situation, they would remain in office. The party congress will be prepared in the coming weeks, together with the candidates for the presidency. “Everyone can trust it.”
