The economist Friedrich Merz and Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus (both CDU) are after the heavy defeat of the Union in the federal election violently clashed. As the “Spiegel” reported on Thursday evening, the reason was Brinkhaus’ plan to be re-elected as parliamentary group chairman instead of initially staying in office temporarily.
According to the report, Merz accused Brinkhaus in a confidential round on Tuesday afternoon of harming the party with his project. The Union have bigger problems right nowthan to deal with the re-election of Brinkhaus for days. Brinkhaus is also said to have become emotional. Brinkhaus is said to have replied that he did not want to be intimidated – the criticism was “ridiculous”.
Thereupon According to the report, Merz slammed a glass filled with orange juice on the table. Party leader Armin Laschet, foreign politician Norbert Röttgen, Health Minister Jens Spahn and the chairman of the North Rhine-Westphalian state group in the Union parliamentary group, Günter Krings, also took part in the round. The procedure was essentially confirmed to the German Press Agency.
Brinkhaus was re-elected on Tuesday evening with 85 percent of the votes in the Union parliamentary group – but only until the end of April and not, as usual, for a year. The presidency question had previously developed into an acid test. After deliberations with the top bodies of his party, Laschet had declared that he had proposed that Brinkhaus should be the parliamentary group leader “in the phase of these coalition negotiations”. In the Union faction it was feared that there could be opposing candidates and that the Union could give a picture of conflict just two days after its disastrous defeat in the federal election.
NRW Prime Minister and Union Chancellor candidate Laschet had declared that he was going to Berlin “without a return ticket” – even if he did not become Chancellor. Should the Union end up on the opposition bench, the parliamentary group chairmanship would be the most important post that would remain. The CDU / CSU fell to its historic low of 24.1 percent in the federal elections.