Markus Söder (r), CSU party chairman, introduces the CSU member of the state parliament, Martin Huber, as the party’s new general secretary.
(Photo: dpa)
Munich The CSU member of the state parliament Martin Huber (44) will be the new general secretary of his party and thus the successor to the resigned Stephan Mayer. Party leader Markus Söder announced this personnel decision on Friday in a switch of the CSU board.
Like Mayer, Huber comes from the Upper Bavarian district of Altötting, from Mühldorf. From 2008 to 2013, the married Catholic was the personal advisor to the then party leader Horst Seehofer in the CSU state leadership – so he already knows the party headquarters from his own experience.
Huber has been a member of the state parliament for the CSU since 2013. At the end of February, Söder had already chosen him as one of two people responsible for developing a new CSU basic program. Beyond the CSU, Huber has not made a big appearance so far.
Söder justified Huber’s appointment by saying that he now wants to put his faith “on the Bayern card”. It would be good if the secretary-general came from the parliamentary group, said Söder, with a view to the state elections in autumn 2023, which are considered a fateful choice for the CSU and also for Söder personally.
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“He burns, he wants it,” he said of Huber. “I trust you 100 percent, I also trust you to do that.” Huber spoke of a great honor and a great task. The CSU board had previously unanimously welcomed Söder’s personnel proposal. According to Söder, there were also suitable candidates in the Bavarian cabinet. But he didn’t want to create a gap in the cabinet.
Huber’s freestyle took place in a hurry and under great time pressure after Stephan Mayer announced his resignation as Secretary General on Tuesday after just over two months in office. The 48-year-old named health reasons in a written statement.
At the same time, however, Mayer admitted that, in retrospect, the choice of words was “possibly” not appropriate to a “Bunte” journalist. The journalist had accused Mayer of threatening him over the phone in connection with a report on his private life.
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