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Markus Söder has his strongest moment after half an hour of conversation: he reads threatening letters that recently reached him, they are disgusting hate messages: “I will shoot you, I will cut you into slices and I will throw you to tigers to eat you,” writes one. Another: “You should gas your smelly Jewish pig.” A third calls the CSU politician a “disgusting Merkel bootlicker,” a “popular killer and child molester.”
Most of the time, they are silent about the communications received by many politicians at all levels of decision-making. Because they show the recipient as vulnerable simply by having to read those things.
“Pretty cheeky, huh?” Says Markus Söder, pausing briefly in his speech. Then he pours the tea from a thermos into a mug in front of him. The red-hot content changes color from black to white, as does the inscription: “Winter is coming”, read there, a phrase from “Game of Thrones.” Now he says, “Winter is here.”
After worrying, laughs in the press room of the state directorate of the CSU Munich. “That doesn’t exist,” says a journalist. Söder’s accessory is reminiscent of joke mugs, mostly with a dirndl print, which can otherwise be bought at fairs. The cup was a gift, a party spokesperson explained later, the flashy effect was unintended.
“I don’t like it” is not provided
A real Söder. The party leader and prime minister delivered their two core messages to the CSU delegates within a minute and surprisingly at best: Beware of the extremists in the crown. And: watch out for the virus, it is still dangerous.
But perhaps the party’s congress format also needs special, clear messages and strong images, and Söder is happy to serve both. Because for the first time in their history, Social Christians gather for a major party congress that is held online using a conference tool. Only the party chairman and important officials are present at the party headquarters.
The approximately 800 voting delegates can log in from home, swipe applications, vote on the computer, and express their goodwill using the “Like” button. The CSU-configured work surface does not have a “Dislike” button.
So it happens that Söder’s hour-long speech is adorned with thumbs-up icons in the interactive screen view. Söder holds it without a real audience at his desk in his office on the fourth floor of CSU headquarters, behind him a CSU flag and the bust of Franz Josef Strauss.
“The second wave is on”
It has almost a single theme. Bavaria and Germany have weathered the crisis well so far, Söder says, but he refrains from any phrase to feel good. Instead, she warns: “I can’t give the go-ahead. Corona has returned in full force, with all her might throughout Europe.” And: “The second wave is on and it’s pretty strong.” And even more drastic: “It is perhaps the test of our time and our generation.”
The Bavarian, burdened by the high number of infections in his federal state, opposes the Swedish strategy: infection comes at a high price. As before, the numbers could grow exponentially and hospitals could fill up. The goal: “We don’t want a second full general lockdown.
Söder does not announce new measures, it is about containment, tests and clear rules. He explains his line with an ethical argument: “For me, as a Christian, it is not justifiable to sacrifice life less for the leisure of many.” At the party congress, Söder hardly explains why the numbers in Bavaria are so high today.
Warns against social polarization with greater emphasis. “The rights are trying to establish a kind of Corona-Pegida.” It is true that every citizen has the right to show their skepticism, to demonstrate and even to believe nonsense. However: “The tone becomes more aggressive, the theses become more confused.” He emphasizes: “Our standard is reason rather than conspiracy.” Söder announces that the Reich war flag, a symbol recently used by Crown deniers, will be banned in Bavaria.
Söder’s appearance is reminiscent of an online lesson, the background noise of a real party congress disappears. At the CSU, such events can turn out to be anarchic in normal times, for example in 2019, when the rank and file rejected a binding quota for women on party committees after several verbal contributions from quota opponents to the microphones of the room.
Face-to-face events canceled
Little controversy, but also little jubilation, however, in 2020. In reality, CSU wanted to celebrate its 75th anniversary in a big way. But the planned party conference had to be canceled, what was left was a rather understated celebration with non-alcoholic sparkling wine and some guests in the rooms of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
CSU has temporarily canceled all major face-to-face events. Instead, it is holding a “digital labor convention,” as General Secretary Markus Blume explains, moderating 150 motions with Dorothee Bär. At the state office, a new broadcasting room has been set up for board meetings and press conferences. For a few days, the CSU has also had a cheaper non-voting online membership.
The party wants to become more digital and “younger, more feminine, greener,” as Blume explains. Soon there will be a campaign to win more women for party work. The enacted modernization harbors conflicts, but unlike its sister party, the CSU has no partisan personalities to clear up until 2021.
And the sister party, wasn’t there something in the CSU party congresses? Söder praises the chancellor and thanks the chairman of the outgoing AKK party. He does not want to interfere in the search for a successor. And in the candidacy for chancellor? An agreement would be reached with the CDU, but this should not be interpreted as “as if the CSU only has to approve it.”
For semantics, Söder has prepared another variant of his much-cited phrase: “My place is always with you, in Bavaria.”
