- After years of debate, the CDU decided to introduce a graduated quota for women in the party.
- On Friday evening in Hanover, the federal party conference voted in favor of the introduction with 559 votes against 409 votes.
According to the new regulation, a women’s quota of 40 percent will apply to board positions from the beginning of 2024, and 50 percent from July 1, 2025. New regulations are also planned for the preparation of lists, for example for state, federal and European elections.
The rule is due to expire at the end of 2029. A majority of 501 of the 1001 delegates at the party congress would have been necessary. The Greens and the SPD have had quotas for a long time.
Before the vote, there was an intensive debate between supporters and opponents with more than 30 requests to speak.
Decision alone is not enough
At the end of the debate, CDU leader Friedrich Merz campaigned vehemently for the adoption of the federal executive board’s proposal. He referred to the below-average proportion of women in the CDU, but also in the CDU parliamentary groups in the Bundestag and in state parliaments. In the Bundestag it is 23.5 percent of the CDU parliamentarians. 37.4 percent of the delegates at the party congress in Hanover are women.
Merz pointed out that the decision alone was not enough to increase the proportion of women in the CDU. Many other measures are necessary for this. Among other things, the CDU wants to reform its party work and enable hybrid meetings, for example.
Legend:
As CDU chairman, Friedrich Merz wants the party to focus less on itself.
Keystone/Michael Kappeler
Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther, CDU Vice Julia Klöckner and former Chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had also campaigned for the previously negotiated party-internal compromise.
Legend:
There was a passionate discussion at the CDU party conference.
Keystone/Michael Kappeler
Merz had warned opponents that the population would have little understanding if the CDU continued to deal with itself. An application for a membership vote was therefore rejected. A failure of the women’s quota would also have been seen as a defeat for Merz.