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Sunday October 25, 2020
In early December, 1001 delegates were originally supposed to elect the new party leader at a CDU election conference in Stuttgart. But nothing will come out of it as intended. The reason is concern about the current corona pandemic. There are three different options as alternatives.
The CDU face-to-face convention with 1001 delegates to elect a new party leader in Stuttgart, scheduled for December 4, is off the table. The German press agency found out after a good five-hour consultation with the nearest party leadership in Berlin. A framework for the next steps has been debated, which party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer will present to the CDU committees on Monday. Details were not initially known.
Based on this information, it was unclear whether the party congress should be postponed to next year, or if there could be a so-called hybrid party congress this year, in which voting would take place in various locations in Germany, both expensive to face as virtually. The third option was vote by mail.
At the party leadership and among the candidates (NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet, former Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz and foreign politician Norbert Röttgen) there was no agreement over the weekend on how to proceed. News that the group had agreed on a framework for new actions should mean that a serious rift between Laschet and Merz has not materialized for now.
From the other side it was said from the party that during the deliberations in the Adenauerhaus, headquarters of the party, the various possibilities that existed for the party congress had been discussed. They did not participate in a discussion. Ultimately, the party’s federal executive committee has to decide this Monday.
AKK now wants to make suggestions
Laschet said late on the ARD show “Anne Will” that her position was clear. “I think that at a time like this when people are expected to stop attending events, it is no longer possible to stop leaving home so that we can hold a party congress with 1000 people. Kramp-Karrenbauer will make a proposal to party committees Monday on how to proceed.
When asked if Merz agreed with this view, Laschet said: “Ask him. I think it’s only fair that everyone explains it for themselves.” He and Merz would have “valued each other’s arguments, I also understand their arguments. And tomorrow a decision will be made.” It’s understandable that personalities as different as he and Merz have different approaches. Chancellor Angela Merkel will stay on the sidelines on this issue, always emphasizing that, Laschet said.
Even before today’s meeting at “Welt am Sonntag,” Laschet had asked that the meeting of 1001 delegates scheduled for December 4 be postponed to next year. Merz had declared that he was in favor of organizing the party congress in a hybrid form changed in several places in presence and practically at the same time, if necessary.
Merz wants to hold the party conference
Immediately before the deliberations, Merz also spoke in favor of sticking with the party congress. This is still doable. “From my point of view, it is especially important that the decision is made on the board of directors, on the president. That cannot be postponed.” Röttgen did not want to take a concrete position with reference to the upcoming decision of the CDU bodies and said that the CDU must behave “without restrictions” in accordance with pandemics, like all citizens. On the other hand, it has the responsibility of maintaining democratic life in the country.
In addition to party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Secretary General Paul Ziemiak and Federal Director General Stefan Hennewig, the three candidates Laschet, Merz and Röttgen participated in the meeting. Party vice-presidents Volker Bouffier, Julia Klöckner, Thomas Strobl and Silvia Breher also participated in the deliberations. Over the weekend, Merkel again asked the population to refrain from traveling and making contacts. “The order of the day for all of us is: reduce contacts. Get to know a lot less people,” he said in his video podcast released Saturday.
Klöckner said that both a postponement and a party conference in various locations would be unsatisfactory for the CDU members. If the delegates meeting takes place in more than one location, this is likely to pose an even greater risk of more “gateways” for the virus. For health and safety reasons, you may accept a postponement.
Should three candidates agree?
The leader of the trade union faction, Brinkhaus, told “Welt am Sonntag” that as long as the number of new infections continues to rise to a high level, a party conference is out of the question. Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans, a member of the CDU presidium, refuses to postpone the party congress until spring. He led the three candidates to an agreement in the “Rheinische Post”.
Junge Union President Tilman Kuban reiterated his proposal to elect the party chairman by mail ballot if necessary in view of the crown crisis. “The simple fact of postponing the party congress over and over without knowing for sure what the situation will be like in a few months will not help us,” he told dpa.
