Tuesday, November 02, 2021
Basis should decide
At the end of January, the new CDU boss has been determined
The CDU wants its new chairman, the third in three years, on 21./22. Vote January at a party conference in Hanover. However, it should be determined beforehand by the 400,000 members.
The new CDU chairman is determined in a member survey. According to ntv information, the CDU federal executive decided unanimously in its meeting today. According to the statutes, a party congress must elect the new chairman; this should take place on 21./22. January happen in Hanover.
The main focus of the board meeting was the schedule. Leading CDU politicians had previously urged that the party congress be held in December. However, since the member survey is to be carried out by letter, this was not feasible.
Candidates for the member survey have not yet officially registered. It is generally expected that the CDU member of the Bundestag Friedrich Merz, the CDU external expert Norbert Röttgen and the Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn apply for candidacy. The head of the CDU / CSU SME Association, Carsten Linnemann, and Union faction leader Ralph Brinkhaus are also being discussed as possible CDU chairmen. All five come from North Rhine-Westphalia.
Merz should have the best chances
A new election of the party leader became necessary after the previous CDU chairman Armin Laschet announced his retirement a month ago. In doing so, he drew the conclusions from the Union’s performance in the federal elections.
That Laschet’s successor should be determined in a member survey was decided on the weekend at a conference of the CDU district chairmen in Berlin; the CDU board of directors agreed with this vote in its meeting today. According to the party statutes, such a basic decision is not officially binding. In practice, it is almost certain that the party congress will follow the vote of the 400,000 members.
Observers assume that Merz has the best chances in a member survey. Talks are currently being held behind the scenes at the CDU to form teams. Because the more candidates there are, the less support there is likely to be for the eventual winner in the first ballot. The CDU wants to prevent such a sign of fragmentation as far as possible.
A dual leadership at the top of the party was only marginally an issue at the district chairperson’s conference. However, it is becoming more likely that the CDU will abandon the principle that party and parliamentary group chairmanship must be in one hand in the opposition.