A According to the outgoing party chairman Armin Laschet, the new CDU boss must be attractive to voters in the middle of the political spectrum. The CDU did not lose any votes to the right in the federal election, Laschet said on Wednesday at the German trade congress in Berlin. “We have lost votes in the middle, to the SPD and the Greens,” he emphasized: “We now have to recruit these middle voters.” . Former CDU parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz and foreign politician Norbert Röttgen, who both lost to Laschet in the last election in January, as well as the previous head of the Chancellery, Helge Braun, are running for election. The nomination period for candidates expires in the evening.
Laschet had announced his withdrawal from the party leadership after the defeat in the Bundestag election. The CDU is now leading from December 4th through a member survey for the first timewho should be the new party leader. “We weren’t as unified as we were in this election campaign,” said Laschet, referring to the general election. This has to change: “You will no longer be able to do it like this.” “Everyone has to support those who are elected,” said Laschet, looking at a new party leader.