“CDU leaves the center”
Christian trade unionists are bothered by Linnemann
7/13/2023 1:02 p.m
After Carsten Linnemann’s nomination as CDU general secretary, top representatives of the social wing were cautious and cautious. But not everyone stays calm. A CDU trade unionist already sees a shift to the right.
The new acting general secretary of the CDU, Carsten Linnemann, only met with a cautious response from the social wing of the Union, the CDA. Its chairman Karl-Josef Laumann, for example, warned on ARD that Linnemann had to keep an eye on the entire party, even if he was a business man. Board member Dennis Radtke told the RND that he saw deficits in the party’s social profile. CDU foreign politician Roderich Kiesewetter had warned on ntv that the CDU should not neglect the center.
“I’m not particularly happy with this change because it shows a change of course, a shift to the right,” said Peter Rudolph on ntv.de. He is deputy chairman of the federal working group of the CDA and the Christian trade union federation (CGB) and is himself a CDA and CDU member. “Merz is already considered a representative of the business wing. Now he has brought another man from the business wing to his side. In my view, the CDU is leaving the political center.”
At a joint appearance with Linnemann and his predecessor Mario Czaja on Wednesday, Merz said that it was only a matter of a change in personnel, not a change of course. This is not convincing for Rudolph. As chairman of the CDU and CSU SME association, Linnemann made it clear “where his priorities lie”. He thinks particularly of a job obligation for the unemployed”. The fact that he also formulated social ideas as head of the policy committee does not change anything for Rudolph. In this role he had to bring together the different wings of the CDU. “If he wrote the program alone, he would it will certainly look different.”
Two with the same profile
In an interview with ARD, Linnemann said on Wednesday that his goal was to “widespread” the CDU. People should know again what the CDU stands for. People who can no longer work should be supported. “Someone who has been on the Bauwar for 45 years won’t even make it to retirement age at 63. How do I strengthen them? On the other hand, with citizen income one can expect that those who can work must also take a job.”
Rudolph certified Linnemann’s predecessor Czaja, also a CDA member, to have done a good job. The Düsseldorf political professor Stefan Marschall described it to ntv.de as a weakness of the Linnemann personnel that he has a similar profile to Merz – not only as an economic liberal, but also as a North Rhine-Westphalian. “This raises the question of how to integrate the other tendencies of the CDU. Czaja, on the other hand, was an East German and came from the workers’ wing.”