The CDU is changing: For the first time, the base should have a say in the election of the chairman. For Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Haseloff, this is just the beginning of a renewal process for his party. He said that on Tuesday evening in the talk show with Markus Lanz on ZDF.
In the end, it came out what everyone expected: For the first time in the history of the CDU, all party members are asked for their opinion. It is about nothing less than the election of the party leader. It is still completely unclear who will be available for election.
Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff will certainly not be. But he was one of the first to criticize the decision of the CDU board to elect Armin Laschet as candidate for Union chancellor. With him, the CDU and CSU had not only lost the federal election. He will also go down in history as the CDU chairman with the shortest term in office.
“This way is irreversible”
Haseloff’s relief about his party’s decision to question all members about the future CDU chairman can be clearly seen. “I think it was my turn,” he said on Tuesday evening at Markus Lanz on ZDF. “The signals from the regional associations were largely clear,” said the Prime Minister. A party that wants to win an election also needs a person at the top who has the chance to be elected. Such a decision was “only possible to a limited extent” in the federal executive committee.
Haseloff is certain that the Union could have won the elections with the right candidate – and is probably thinking of Markus Söder, for whom the majority of the CDU district associations in the east had spoken out in favor. But if you listen to Haseloff now, you think, at least for a very short time, that he has become a real Laschet fan in the last few weeks. Laschet has a good character, he says. He is kind. And then he takes it apart. But right!
Laschet had stated at a press conference that afternoon that the CDU members should be asked “once” about the choice of their party leader. The survey is also not legally binding. Haseloff sees it completely differently. With Markus Lanz he says: “A path has been taken. This path is irreversible! There will always be a strong involvement of the grassroots!”
Haseloff and the CDU revolution
Haseloff says that the statutes are actually as described by Laschet. “You have to admit that formally.” But now the member survey has been set. “I think there will also be a process to institutionalize that.” In the future, the CDU will present itself more clearly as a grassroots people’s party.
And where Haseloff already proclaims the CDU revolution, he immediately brings up the break with an ancient tradition. “We don’t have a double leadership yet,” he answered the moderator’s question about a renewed female CDU chairman. “That would have to be changed. The process would have to be started if you wanted to.”
The moderator unfortunately fails to ask whether Haseloff can really imagine a dual leadership. So he simply gives the answer without being asked: “We have experience with women executives. With this experience we will bring the best (candidates).” And then the all-important sentence: “And if the statutes have been changed, then we have both genders with us.” In any case, the member survey is only the first step, promises Haseloff.