Hanover After decades of dispute, the CDU is gradually introducing a women’s quota. At the party conference in Hanover on Friday, 559 delegates voted for a compromise presented by the new party leader Friedrich Merz.
This stipulates that the quota will be limited to the end of 2029. After a passionate debate, 409 delegates voted against the new regulation, eleven abstained.
Merz had previously spoken out in favor of a quick decision to introduce it. “Let’s not postpone this discussion and this decision again,” said Merz. Delegates subsequently rejected a motion to organize a membership survey before a decision was made.
Merz said that a lot of time had already been lost due to the corona pandemic, in which the CDU had only held digital party conferences in recent years. If the vote were postponed again, “we would probably have a two-year ongoing discussion about whether we should do it or not,” said Merz. “Then this question, as we are discussing it now, will accompany us into the year 2024. Does that make it better? Will that make things different?” As in his party conference speech, however, Merz did not expressly support the quota.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The women’s quota has been controversial in the CDU for decades. Above all, the business wing and the young party youth of the Young Union (JU) rejected them vehemently.
More: “We are not in Bullerbü” – CDU leader Merz attacks Habeck