“In January, at the latest at the beginning of February”, the CDU will hold its next federal party conference, it was said on Monday from the party’s presidium, which met just like the federal executive committee. There Laschet had suggested how the party should reposition itself in terms of content and personnel from his point of view. He had previously coordinated his proposal closely with the party leadership. “This is a good way that we have prepared in the last few days,” it said.
After the meetings, General Secretary Paul Ziemiak said: “In the future, more membership will be needed.” There will be a conference of district chairpersons on October 30th. The federal executive board should decide on November 2nd and, depending on how extensive the participation is, a date for the federal party congress will be decided. “We discussed very intensively and controversially,” said Ziemiak. It was necessary to clarify procedural questions, such as which structure the candidates should propose, it said.
Prime ministers such as Daniel Günther from Schleswig-Holstein and Michael Kretschmer from Saxony could not have prevailed with their demand to hold the party congress “later this year”. It is supposed to take place in Dresden.
But it was not just about the party, but also about the unlikely possibility that the SPD, Greens and FDP will not agree on a traffic light coalition and the FDP and Greens will seek talks with the Union again. Ziemiak pointed out that the Union had “made an offer” even after the election. “That’s why the first question is: What is important for Germany? Then the question arises: What is important for the CDU? “
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Five men from NRW are ready
In fact, Laschet has made it clear behind closed doors that the Union is also capable of acting and ready to talk “in the unlikely event”. He will “not let it fail because of his person.” He had already made a similar statement on Thursday and no longer complained about the conduct of the negotiations and a possible chancellorship after successful Jamaica negotiations.
Content-related questions are not yet in the foreground in view of the upcoming state elections in 2022, even if this is seen as a priority by everyone. “At least as important as people is the examination of the Union’s compass,” said board member Bernd Althusmann the Handelsblatt. It is about the “idea of a modern union”, for example in questions of family and child policy, in questions of climate and security.
The possible new top staff of the CDU these days consists of five people, all of whom are struggling for power in the party and all of them come from North Rhine-Westphalia. In the committees there was a demand “that the gentlemen should clarify the question in North Rhine-Westphalia” in order to avoid a candidacy for a fight. There is already talk of a “team solution”, since it is about much more than a personnel issue. Belong to the list of candidates Group leader Ralph Brinkhaus, the parliamentary group vice-president and head of the SME and Economic Union (MIT) Carsten Linnemann, Friedrich Merz, Norbert Röttgen as well as CDU vice Jens Spahn. Linnemann would be proposed by MIT if he wanted, it said.
The MIT regional association Schleswig-Holstein perhaps also thought it would be welcome if “formerly defeated candidates would forego running again” in order not to revive old wing struggles. This means that the MIT board members Merz, Spahn and Röttgen would resign.
The idea of a transitional party leader is off the table
But that is not to be expected. The proposal is also off the table, possibly to appoint a transitional party leader without ambitions of his own, who would concentrate fully on the renewal of the party. The head of the North Rhine-Westphalian member of the Bundestag, Günter Krings, had warned against such a decision. A CDU chairman must always be fit for chancellor. “We should still have that much self-confidence at the moment.”
Laschet will take over the role of moderator in the coming months. He did this “very well” on Monday and has been much more relaxed since it was certain that he would no longer take on a management role. Now everyone sees “the opportunities in a new beginning”. In addition to the chairman, the entire board of directors is to be re-elected at the federal party conference. The incumbent board decided this unanimously, explained Secretary General Ziemiak. This legitimation is required.
According to the statutes, the members elected in January are fixed for two years. But even the statutes are no longer the measure of all things. There is talk of party membership redefining the entire CDU leadership. A member survey is not legally binding, as the principle of representation applies in the CDU. Accordingly, a federal party convention determines to which the organs of the party send delegates. The youngest board member, Wiebke Winter, called for more interactive elements. As with furniture, the connection is different when it is built together.
Both the Junge Union and the Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT) had requested a member survey. MIT’s motion stated that the party was at a “crossroads” at which members should be involved. “A previous tour of the candidates standing for election through the CDU district / district associations, following the example of the regional conferences, would certainly also make sense in terms of fair competition.”
Strong criticism in the direction of Markus Söder
The Lower Saxony state chief Bernd Althusmann said: “I am very much in favor of a member survey in the event of a controversial election.” Like the former Thuringian state chief Mike Mohring, he considered it unrealistic that a candidate would be found by consensus.
Before the meeting of the party bodies, there had been a heated debate within the Union about the future direction of the party since Laschet indicated his withdrawal on Thursday. The discussion went as far as the question of how to proceed between the CDU and CSU. Prime Minister Günther criticized the behavior of CSU leader Markus Söder in the federal election campaign: To put others in a bad light in order to shine better – that was called “södern” in his time as a political scientist.
There was also criticism of the “cross shots” from Bavaria in the presidium – “in the past as well as in the present”, as it was said. The former government spokesman for Helmut Kohl, Friedhelm Ost, even described Söder as a “champion of hypocrisy and bad cardsharps” who “sneakily hunted down” Laschet. A CDU in Bavaria could “be a real alternative”.
The party wants to work quickly on the causes of the election debacle. In addition to the meetings of district and state chairpersons, there will also be digital and on-site conferences. An externally appointed commission should also carry out analyzes, including on election campaigns. “This work-up is important,” said Ziemiak. The results should be available before the party congress. “Everything on the table” is the motto. It is a “milestone in the question of how to proceed”.
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