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Many officials in the party’s leadership circle in Berlin consider the debates useless after the candidate’s attacks. Merz supporters, on the other hand, urge clear content as quickly as possible.
Presents an “action to prevent Merz”: the candidate for the presidency of the CDU party, Friedrich Merz.
The scandal is followed by a thunderous silence: On Monday night, Friedrich Merz hit the kettle on the media. The decision of the party leadership to postpone indefinitely the CDU party congress scheduled for December struck all channels. They wanted to “wear him down,” he said in television and newspaper interviews. An “action to prevent Merz” was underway, the “establishment” of the Christian Democrats had conspired against him. Intrigues were spun in the WhatsApp groups. His main competitor for the CDU presidency, Armin Laschet, is behind the matter.
The response to Merz’s accusations at the reprimanded establishment: CDU leaders held back with comments Tuesday. Only the general secretary of the CDU, Paul Ziemiak, explained in Deutschlandfunk what he had said the day before: “The reason for the postponement of the conference of the party in attendance was the contagious situation in Germany.” On all other questions raised, he could not say a word. It seemed as if the party leaders, with their public exercise of silence, did not want to turn the drama of a candidate for the party presidency into a drama for the party.
Attacking instead of joining the group
Can this strategy work? Many doubt it, even in the CDU. Away from the microphones, many members of the presidium become clearer. There is talk of a futile debate and that the party is currently not in good shape. There is sometimes perplexity as to why Merz so aggressively addresses his internal party critics. Because it is also clear: whoever wants to become leader of the CDU, the party should do so.
On Tuesday, even Merz supporters had trouble classifying his remarks: “The so-called CDU establishment does not work fundamentally against Friedrich Merz,” said Marian Wendt, a CDU member of the NZZ Bundestag. One should now find the way back to a fair electoral campaign process within the party. On the other hand, he was also able to understand the “feelings of Friedrich Merz”.
A member survey as an outlet
Obviously, parties in the party do not agree with the way in which the decision to postpone the party conference was made. “Avoiding implementation options like voting in different places or voting by mail only for the president for political reasons is just as wrong as the way people communicate before and after committee meetings,” Union President Junge said. , Tilman Kuban. , the NZZ. The party and parliamentary group leaders could have made the constitutional amendment for a digital electoral party congress long ago and avoid this conflict. The Junge Union will now work to set a new date for a digital or physical party conference on January 16.
Until now, German party law states that board members must be elected at party conferences every two years. Only through a change in the law that will apply during the crown pandemic will it be possible to hold a party digital conference and then appoint the board of directors by postal vote. That would take a long time, but on the other hand, the CDU had enough time to prepare for this situation. Now the party is frankly surprised by the pandemic that has been rampant for months.
In this context, Jana Schimke also considers the cancellation of the party congress wrong. “Friedrich Merz’s reaction is understandable and humane,” the CDU member of the Bundestag said in this newspaper. There was no apparent reason why the president could not be elected in December. There are good and thoughtful suggestions on the table for this. “If that’s not what you want, the output is a member poll, so all candidates agree to accept the vote. That would be a way out to continue acting for the 2021 electoral year and to deactivate the justified debate on the date of the party’s congress. “
A kind of “FC Hollywood” of politics
On paper, the party’s shape curve is currently increasing: in the crisis, the executive hour hits, the Chancellor’s party is entering an election year with good polls, and voters are asking about its main competition, stability. However, with the decision of the party conference, the CDU presents itself as a kind of “FC Hollywood” in politics. Like FC Bayern Munich, he has recently had a knack for fighting, jealousy and internal hustle and bustle alongside success.
The mockery was immediate. On the Internet under #RealFriedrichMerz since Monday, alluding to its origin, the jokes of «Sauerlandtrump» and an image that shows the candidate in the pose of Youtubers Rezo with blue hair circulate. He attacked the party head-on with a questionable video before the 2019 European elections. Now the headline, this time within the party, is once again: “The destruction of the CDU!”
This also causes considerable irritation outside Berlin party circles. Especially where there will be state elections in the near future. The Minister of Education and top candidate of the CDU for the next state elections in Baden-Württemberg, Susanne Eisenmann, would have preferred a quick clarification of the question of power: “It would have seemed prudent to take the decision on the federal presidency of the CDU with anticipation and speed, for clarity to have. ” A postponement to spring would lead to internal disputes that would cast a shadow over elections in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate in March.
On the other hand, exactly these disputes represent a substantive dispute that has been pending clarification in the party for years. They are the struggles of the party rank and file against the functional class, the conservatives against the “Merkelians”, the economic wing against the social wing. Stephan Bernhardt, leader of the CDU city party in Rüsselsheim, sums up the situation as follows: “I think there are certain fears in the establishment. You don’t want a big swing. A directional decision is urgently needed. That is why it was a mistake to cancel the party congress, which also affects Laschet and Röttgen. “
