The economic politician has not become chairman of the CDU twice.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin According to his own statements, the former Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz has not yet decided whether he will run again for the CDU party chairmanship. However, he ruled out a renewed candidacy in a fight vote at a federal party conference on Thursday evening in the ZDF program “Maybrit Illner”.
“Whether or not I will run for party chairmanship again is a question that I have not finally dealt with,” said Merz. “I rule out one thing: I will not go into a controversial vote at a federal party congress again.” Merz had recently run twice for the party chairmanship at CDU federal party conventions and was defeated twice – first in 2018 against Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, then at the beginning of this year against Armin Laschet.
He welcomed the fact that CDU boss Armin Laschet is striving for a consensus solution when it comes to reorganizing the CDU. “The question of how we include the base – our 400,000 members – in this decision is an open question,” said Merz. He thinks it is right “that we are talking about membership participation”.
On Friday, the “Bild” newspaper, with reference to the Merz environment, reported that the former parliamentary group leader wanted to run again for the CDU chairmanship if there was a member survey. The message had fueled speculation about Laschet’s withdrawal from the party leadership Merz had tweeted about this: “We have an elected chairman and I support him in his efforts to set up a coalition with the FDP and the Greens. All other questions are not currently being asked, they are purely speculative.”
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CDU boss Laschet wants to propose to the party’s top bodies after the historic election defeat a party congress to reorganize the CDU. He said that on Thursday in Berlin. The personal realignment of the CDU – “from the chairman to the presidium to the federal executive committee” should now be tackled quickly. Laschet said that attempts should be made in the federal party to reach a consensus from all who are currently considered.
More: Laschet’s failure and Söder’s contribution – there is chaos in the Union