[ad_1]
The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, has asked that the Union not determine its candidate for chancellor until mid-March, two months after the election of the party president. The terms of Chancellor Angela Merkel and a candidate for Chancellor of the Union should not overlap for long, Laschet said. “We have important state elections on March 14. From then on, it is a good idea to treat the thought more closely. In Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, the vote will take place on that day.
Laschet agreed with the opinion of the head of CSU, Markus Söder, the minister of Health, Jens Spahn, and the president of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble. They had also demanded that the candidate for chancellor be determined only after the election of the new head of the CDU. Laschet cited the SPD as a negative example. The Social Democrats nominated Olaf Scholz as their chancellor candidate too early, according to Laschet. In the election for the presidency of the CDU on January 16, he competes against Norbert Röttgen and Friedrich Merz.
If Laschet wins the election, the Union may have to choose between him and CSU leader Markus Söder as a candidate for chancellor. Laschet’s quote on Friday, when he featured a biography on Söder, was even more unusual. On this occasion Laschet praised the Bavarian Prime Minister, who was a “great communicator”. “Every prime minister who governs a large country can also be a federal chancellor,” Laschet said when asked if he would trust Söder as chancellor. The Union will mount the one with the one with the best chance of winning the elections. According to Laschet, this is not measured by surveys alone. Söder is regularly up against the three CDU politicians in polls.
“If you aspire to the Chancellery, you should have ruled once”
Laschet denied his competitors from the CDU Merz and Röttgen the suitability for the chancellor candidacy: “If you want to run for the chancellery, you must know how a ministerial vote happens, how a coalition works and, above all, how you win the elections.” Laschet said. He suggested procedures for the selection of the chancellor candidate by the CDU and CSU: “Both praesidia together will make a proposal.”
Laschet was supported by his NRW interior minister, Herbert Reul (CDU). He feared that the CDU would lose its majority capacity if Friedrich Merz were elected party chairman. “It is not enough if the central force of the CDU applauds, but the voters no longer want us,” Reul told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. »I am afraid that the election of Friedrich Merz as party chairman would boost the Green voters who have so far elected Merkel’s CDU. We can’t be interested in that, ”Reul said.
Meanwhile, Merz commented on his personnel plans should he become CDU president. He wanted to hang on to Secretary General Paul Ziemiak, Merz told the German Press Agency. “Replacing the party president and the general secretary some eight months before the general elections is too great a risk. You shouldn’t do that unless it’s necessary, ”says Merz. He had initially announced that he wanted to have a woman as general secretary by his side.
Unlike his opponent Norbert Röttgen, Merz does not want to create a separate team to provide support. “I don’t want parallel structures in the party, but my team is the elected federal executive,” Merz said. On Friday night he informed CDU members of his plans in an internal online format. Röttgen has announced that it will make the member of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament, Ellen Demuth, head of strategy for an independent steering group.
