[ad_1]
reNorth Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Armin Laschet, who is running for the CDU presidency, has spoken out in favor of postponing the planned electoral party conference in early December due to the crown pandemic. What the parties expect of the citizens, they have to do themselves: reduce contacts whenever possible. “This party congress is not absolutely necessary now, it can be postponed,” he told “Welt am Sonntag” (“WamS”). All outstanding issues could also be resolved after winter. “Now we must concentrate all our strength, energy and efforts on fighting the pandemic. People in Germany understand less than ever that the parties now care about themselves. “
Laschet is running for the presidency with economic politician Friedrich Merz and foreign politician Norbert Röttgen. According to RTL / ntv’s “trend barometer” on Saturday, 45 percent of CDU members would elect Merz, 24 percent for Laschet and 13 percent for Röttgen if they could vote for themselves. Merz definitely wants the party conference to take place. “We have to let it happen, in spite of Corona, and we must not allow the comparison to be made between Volksfest, Oktoberfest and the football match,” he said Thursday night at a CDU event in Hamburg.
The CDU leadership wants to decide on the party congress on Monday. It is considered that the event will be spread over several places, with mutual connection via video. According to information from dpa, the model could be a corresponding planning for the Lower Saxony CDU state party conference on November 7.
Party conference at the stadium as an alternative
According to information from “WamS”, the general secretary of the CDU, Paul Ziemiak, wants to present a corresponding concept to the committees this Monday, which was examined and approved by internal lawyers of the CDU and by experts from the Ministry of the Interior. The CDU would not meet with 1001 delegates in Stuttgart as previously planned, but with 100-200 delegates each in eight to ten rooms in Germany. The speeches of the candidates would be broadcast everywhere, the scrutiny would be carried out in each room under notarial supervision.
Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans called for this variant in the “WamS” and declared: “Postponing the party congress until the spring of next year would be the worst alternative.”
The member of the CDU of the Bundestag, Axel Fischer, sees it in a similar way. “The CDU must clarify the issue of leadership on December 4,” he told the German press agency. The Bundestag, with more than 700 members, also conducts its week-long sessions normally, with a hygiene concept. “That should also be possible in a one-day party congress with 1001 delegates. If necessary, the CDU match convention in Germany can be held in a football stadium. The Gottlieb Daimler stadium in Stuttgart would be a good alternative. “
Survey: majority of citizens in favor of moving
The leader of the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Ralph Brinkhaus, said that as long as the number of new infections continues to rise to a high level, a party congress is unthinkable.
SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach called for the cancellation. “The CDU cannot simultaneously defend the ban on smaller events and then gather more than 1000 people in one place. Politics has a role model to follow, so the CDU should cancel the party congress, “he told” Bild am Sonntag. “
According to a survey, most citizens see it that way too. 55 percent voted for the newspaper in a singing poll, only 36 percent were in favor (no information: 8 percent).
