The economic politician enjoys great support from the party base.
(Photo: Reuters)
The CDU base has spoken: Friedrich Merz is your favorite. The Sauerland won the fight for the party chairmanship in the first ballot against Norbert Rötten and Helge Braun. The lead turned out to be full.
For Röttgen and Braun it’s a swat. In contrast to Röttgen, who is still on the CDU presidium, Braun had already secured the prestigious post of chairman of the budget committee in the Bundestag.
For Merz, the choice is certainly a great personal satisfaction. He competed three times before he was able to step out of the shadow of his former rival Angela Merkel. The turning point could not be more pronounced than in the Merkel years. Merz takes over the helm at the Christian Democrats. He has now finally defeated the Merkelians.
One possible loser is Ralph Brinkhaus, the Union parliamentary group leader. Unlike the other two applicants, Merz has not ruled out taking over the parliamentary group chairmanship. The result should give him a tailwind in his argument that both offices belong in one hand.
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At Merz, the overall package was just right in the end. He has learned a lot since his first attempt to conquer the top of the party. He no longer sees himself as a solitaire, but as a team captain. The team includes different wings and different regions.
The touchstone will be the election in North Rhine-Westphalia
There are now big tasks ahead of Merz. He has to fight the frustration that the party lost power after the 16-year Merkel era. And Merz has to establish an employment relationship with Markus Söder. His relationship with the CSU boss is considered tense.
His first touchstone will be the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia. There he has his constituency, and in Düsseldorf the CDU governs with the FDP. That must be his counter-model to the traffic light coalition in Berlin. The opponent is then not Christian Lindner, but a red-green majority between the Rhine and Ruhr.
Merz has expertise in economic and financial policy. He has subtly modernized his socio-political ideas. Above all, however, it can mobilize the grassroots. That is the most important thing for the upcoming election campaigns.
In the federal election in 2025, Merz will be 70 years old. But that’s not an age today. But he has to prove that he is not just a man of transition.
More: Comment: Lindner has to combine the new debts with clear expenses – otherwise he is threatened with embarrassment in Karlsruhe