Thursday January 14, 2021
First digital, then postal voting
CDU wants to be united again
Despite the sometimes fierce struggle for the CDU chief post, the party wants to gather behind the new chairman, says CDU General Secretary Ziemiak. And it offers a foretaste of the election campaign.
After the internal party election campaign for the CDU chairmanship, the Union wants to go to the party congress with the greatest possible unity, at which the successor to CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer will be elected. CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak said after meetings of the Presidium and the Federal Executive Board that it had been confirmed in the committees that everyone would support the new chairman.
In a "Berlin Declaration", the CDU also reaffirmed its claim to leadership even after the end of the era of Chancellor Angela Merkel. "Our will to govern today and to shape for tomorrow is unbroken. Right now it's up to us," says the paper that the CDU federal executive board passed. In the federal election in the fall, it will be a question of whether the CDU will remain the leading force or there will be a left-wing alliance, said Ziemiak.
The party congress begins on Friday evening, the election of the new CDU chairman will take place on Saturday. Because of the corona pandemic, the party conference will be held entirely online. The board, presidium and the new chairman are also elected digitally.
In the end only yes, no, abstention
The North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Armin Laschet, the former Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz and the CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen are available for election. If none of the three get a majority of the votes cast in the first ballot, there will be a runoff election with the top two, explained Ziemiak. For legal reasons, the election winner must then be confirmed in a postal vote. The delegates can tick "Yes", "No" or "Abstention". The result of the postal vote should be announced in a week, on January 22nd.
The three candidates have agreed that only the election winner of the digital party convention will run for the postal vote, affirmed Ziemiak. There can be no surprise candidates for the postal vote, as applications for the CDU chairmanship must be submitted by the time the agenda item is called on Saturday. "I have no indications that there will be more candidates," said the Secretary General when asked.
The board of directors "thanked Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer very warmly for her work," said Ziemiak. He would also like to thank you personally for the "very, very good", trusting and friendly work. The trigger for the resignation of the previous CDU chairman almost a year ago was the scandal surrounding the election of FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich as Prime Minister of Thuringia. The reason, however, was a lack of support.
It is unclear whether the election of the CDU chairman is a preselection for the Union's candidate for chancellor. In the spring, the CDU and CSU want to decide who will stand for the sister parties in the federal election on September 26th. In addition to the new CDU boss, a candidacy by the Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU Chairman Markus Söder is considered possible. There is also constant speculation about a candidacy from Health Minister Jens Spahn. He supports Laschet and applies as deputy party chairman.
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