Shortly before the start of the CDU party congress, the three candidates for the chairmanship come together for a second questioning by the members. The political differences are less exciting than the efforts of Laschet, Merz and Röttgen to wipe out any open gaps.
If three men of similar age from North Rhine-Westphalia meet at a round table on a Friday evening, Tanja Samrotzki's idea is actually obvious: The moderator of the survey with the three candidates for the CDU federal executive board feels reminded of a round of Skat. That this could work well has less to do with the gentlemen's personal sympathy for one another than with their political views. They are like the dark blue jackets and gray-blue ties of the trio: the differences are nuanced.
On this second evening of questions after mid-December, three topics on which members had sent in their questions will be discussed: climate and environmental policy, internal security and foreign and European policy. At most, when it comes to the climate, there is something like dissent when North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Armin Laschet rises to defend industry and the common man. Laschet instructs the former Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen that the conflict between ecology and economy is by no means easy to resolve: "There are companies that are moving from Germany to countries with poorer standards."
Friedrich Merz, who praises the instrument of CO2 pricing as an instrument of climate policy, has to hear from Laschet that it does make a difference for people if a liter of fuel costs 20 cents more. It remains the only halfway emotional moment of an approximately 80-minute conversation that does not involve any laughs or smiles. Merz and Laschet save nice words in the form of approval for each other. Both apparently rely on underpinning the public image of Röttgen as an isolated lone fighter.
A race on an equal footing
There is still a week left before the CDU holds its first fully digital federal party conference, at which one of the three is to be elected as the successor to long-term chairwoman Angela Merkel. For the formal successor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the Chancellor's footsteps were, in her own opinion, too big. Which is why, almost a year ago, as a result of the Thuringian government crisis, she announced that she would not be re-elected.
But who will receive the digital vote of the 1001 party congress delegates is considered completely open. Even Norbert Röttgen, who was still considered an outsider in the spring, has realistic chances. According to a survey by Infratest-Dimap on behalf of the ARD, he is on par with North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Laschet in the favor of CDU voters. Both come to 25 percent, Friedrich Merz to 29 percent approval. This must above all make Merz nervous, who has long been considered a favorite and has now lost ground.
But the delegates decide independently of polls anyway. It remains to be seen whether they are still so undecided that formats such as the candidate survey shortly before the party congress still have an effect. On the other hand, Merz's weak application speech at the 2018 party conference is also considered to be decisive for his narrow defeat against Kramp-Karrenbauer. In any case, the candidates are working hard. But because they only get two minutes of free speaking time at the end of the evening, the finale is actually the most interesting part of the event.
Three very different focuses
First, Röttgen comes to the lectern and he spends an amazing amount of time on New Years greetings and thanks to the people who follow the live stream. Then Röttgen tries to draw attention to his successful campaign. "I discussed for months," says Röttgen. "I not only talked, I also listened." He wanted to make the party younger, more feminine, more modern: "I want to participate. In whatever capacity I want to serve." And: "I am not a camp, I stand for everyone." There are a lot of "I's" in the candidate who has the notorious reputation of being a lone fighter. But maybe Röttgen's just pride speaks about his catching up, which party members and journalists did not consider possible.
Laschet, on the other hand, begins with an apology for his so far poor performance in the candidate race: "I have not been able to enter this competition for ten months because we were captivated by this pandemic for months," says Laschet. In the entire preceding debate, Laschet did not answer any question without giving practical examples from his work as Prime Minister of the most populous federal state.
Laschet's office is his ace that he slams on the table with verve: "You will ask, what are you bringing with you?" Says Laschet. "I bring: government experience, leadership of a large country, balance between different interests and, which is perhaps not entirely harmful for a CDU chairman, to have won an election." The broadside applies above all to Merz, who has not held a politically relevant mandate at all since 2005.
Merz extends his hand
But the last speaker made no attempt to address this shortcoming. This evening he is busy cleaning out completely different nicks. Merz is clearly plowing the allegations that an alliance with the Greens could not be made with him, that he was too conservative for the center-voters, that he had the party apparatus against him.
Merz is already prepared for the climate debate, gives a few figures and expresses himself enthusiastically about CO2 pricing. In the debate about internal security, he praised the green-black state government in Baden-Württemberg for having equipped the police with body cameras. Merz promises nothing less than an "ecological renewal of the social market economy". Merz introduces the answer to a member's question about Islamist terrorism by saying that right-wing terrorism has been "underestimated". Merz emphasized several times how important the EU was to him: The CDU should "remain the European party of the Federal Republic of Germany".
Not a single word of criticism of the Merkel years comes from Merz's lips, and he is also seeking reconciliation with the party apparatus. In November, Merz had raised the charge that the party establishment was trying to prevent him by canceling the party congress on December 4th due to the pandemic. "My team will be the elected federal executive of the CDU in Germany," says Merz now. He thanks General Secretary Paul Ziemiak and his staff "for the excellent preparation" of the candidate race so far. It is Merz's outstretched hand to the opponents in his party. In a week he will know if it will be accepted.
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