Berlin In the muddled debate about the future leadership team of the CDU, the voices of those who advocate dual leadership are increasing.
“A real reorganization of the CDU can only really succeed if the individual interest groups SME Union, Employee Wing, Women’s Union, Young Union and Senior Union are considered equally in the new board,” said the deputy chairman of the workforce (CDA), Dennis Radtke, the Handelsblatt . “We should therefore not categorically rule out the idea of dual leadership.”
Radtke from Bochum, who represents the Ruhr area in the European Parliament, considers the first dual leadership in the history of the federal party to be an option, since in the Union “the individual groups are sometimes irreconcilable”.
“If we really want this solution within the CDU, then we can do it at a federal party congress. The dual leadership should then be occupied by a man and a woman, plus a chairman of the parliamentary group. “
Previously, for example, the deputy party chairman Silvia Breher or the chairwoman of the women’s group in the Bundestag parliamentary group, Yvonne Magwaz, had spoken out accordingly. The Schleswig-Holstein Education Minister Karin Prien had also called for a team at the top of the CDU consisting of women and men who trust each other.
In the party headquarters it has been said so far that the debate about a dual leadership is still in its infancy. However, so far there does not seem to be a solution to the question of how to prevent a candidate for a fight like 2018 and the beginning of the year, which divided the party.
The potential candidates – all men, Catholic, from North Rhine-Westphalia and the economically liberal wing – could not understand each other: parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus, middle-class politician Carsten Linnemann, economic expert Friedrich Merz, foreign politician Norbert Röttgen and health minister Jens Spahn. Neither has a woman agreed to run for office so far.
Members could vote on dual leadership
“We don’t have time for a member survey, which paralyzes the party for months,” said Radtke. “The new management has to be in place at the beginning of the year so that we can get started again quickly.”
State elections will be held in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as previously in Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein in 2022. In the federal states, the CDU wants to defend its majority and thus keep its young prime ministers in office: Tobias Hans, Daniel Günther and soon Hendrik Wüst, who is to take over the office of Armin Laschet in Düsseldorf on October 26th.
On October 30, the 326 district chairmen of the party are to discuss whether the members will determine the new party chairman in a survey. The district chairmen could also advocate the principle of dual leadership.
“The approval of the district chairperson for this model would be an important first step so that the 1001 delegates can decide on it,” said Radtke. “Before that, the members could be asked about this quickly and easily online.” A corresponding change to the statutes would be necessary.
A newly elected dual leadership including general secretary and deputy chairmen, presidium and board members would have charm in many ways: On the one hand, they could jointly represent the breadth of the party and all of them could be redefined at a party congress. It would also be possible for Brinkhaus to remain chairman of the parliamentary group and so the scramble for the few leadership positions will be less, given the many government offices that are no longer being held.
Who will be Vice President of the Bundestag?
In addition to the party leadership, the parliamentary group has to reposition itself. Among other things, eleven spokesperson positions are vacant for working groups that have to represent the provisional parliamentary group vice-presidents.
The previous integration commissioner of the federal government and chairwoman of the women’s union is running for the union as vice-president of the Bundestag.
(Photo: dpa)
Next Monday, the day before the constituent session of the Bundestag, the parliamentary group will be the first to fill the position of Bundestag Vice-President. The current integration commissioner of the federal government and chairwoman of the women’s union, Anette Widmann-Mauz, as well as state minister for culture Monika Grütters are running.
In addition, the previous parliamentary managing director, Michael Grosse-Brömer, as well as parliamentary deputy Hermann Gröhe, as the Handelsblatt learned from parliamentary groups.
There is less pressure for the remaining elections, as, contrary to expectations, the previous deputy parliamentary group leader for digital affairs and families, Nadine Schön, will be represented in the Bundestag. The foreign policy spokesman, Jürgen Hardt, also moved up.
In any case, the chairmen of the regional groups have not yet met for their first meeting. The so-called “carpet dealers’ group” distributes the posts with a view to national teams, gender and previous work in the parliamentary group or government – as ministers or state secretaries.
Decisions are made like a cascade
The decisions fall like a cascade: after the parliamentary group chairmanship and on Monday the position of Bundestag Vice-President, the parliamentary manager is elected. Afterwards it is necessary to determine the deputy group chairmen and the working group chairmen at the working level.
The carpet dealers also distribute the committee chairs that the Union can take over. “Everything is related to everything,” reports one of them.
Before that, however, they have to determine their own chairman: the chief carpet dealer. During the last electoral term, this position was held by the head of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania regional group and budget spokesman, Eckhardt Rehberg, who was no longer running.
“It has proven itself that the head of a small national group holds the chair,” he told the Handelsblatt. There are fewer conflicts of interest when it comes to the posts. “As the regional group chairman, it is important to“ get as many jobs as possible for my people, ”confirms a carpet dealer.
In conversation is Johann Wadephul, who comes from Schleswig-Holstein. However, another has also applied for the office: Mathias Middelberg, domestic policy spokesman and head of the Lower Saxony regional group. “Both are suitable,” it said in the group. The decisive factor is the ability to “integrate, have authority and get things to the point”.
More: Retired People’s Party – The CDU is dragging itself towards a new start