Following the defeat of the German conservative party in the legislative elections of September 26, its leader Armin Laschet said he was ready, Thursday October 7, to leave the head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). “We will quickly address the issue of the new CDU team, from the president to the presidium and up to the federal executive committee”, he assured in Berlin, less than a year after taking the head of Angela Merkel’s party.
The 60-year-old Rhenish, renowned for his tenacity, said he would ask for a CDU congress, the date and place to be determined, in order to decide “Of the future and the reorganization” at the head of the party. “Since Angela Merkel’s withdrawal from the presidency of the party we have had an incessant debate [autour de la direction de la formation] “, he also insisted. According to the daily Bild, this congress could be held during the first half of December in Dresden (east).
A potential “traffic light” coalition in sight
Mr. Laschet was personally responsible for the worst electoral score (24.1%) ever achieved by the Conservatives in the history of modern Germany. And for many observers, it has since appeared on borrowed time.
Hardly elected to head the CDU in January, he then had to fight with Markus Söder, head of the CSU, the CDU’s Bavarian ally, to be the Conservatives’ candidate for chancellery. Author of a failed campaign despite the involvement in extremis of Mr.me Merkel, M. Laschet continues to insist that a so-called “Jamaica” coalition – with the Liberals and the Greens – remains possible. “The (coalition) Jamaica is a chance for a real new beginning in our country”, he insisted Thursday.
But the ecologists and the liberals, respectively third and fourth in the poll, are conducting preliminary discussions with the SPD with a view to forming a coalition government quickly and thus avoiding a long feared paralysis throughout Europe. At the end of a first round of discussions Thursday, the formations decided to meet again on Monday for in-depth talks which will continue on Tuesday and then Friday.
Scholz wants a government “before Christmas”
None of the parties, however, wanted to say when these discussions could lead to the formation of a so-called “traffic light” coalition. Significant obstacles still stand in the way of an alliance, particularly on tax issues. But in the event of agreement on the main lines of a future alliance, the three parties will then begin coalition negotiations as such. All of them nevertheless repeated that they wanted to go fast. SPD leader Olaf Scholz, who would become chancellor in the event of an alliance, assured on election night he wanted a government ” before Christmas “.
Since the defeat of September 26, Mr. Laschet’s internal rivals, such as Friedrich Merz or Jens Spahn, who defend a line more to the right, are in position for the succession. On Wednesday, on the sidelines of an EU-Balkans summit, the chancellor herself had showered conservative hopes, noting that her camp had not “The best electoral result” to be able to claim to form a coalition.
At the end of the first meeting of the Conservative deputies in the Bundestag, the leader of the parliamentary group, a close friend of Mr Laschet, had only been re-elected for six months, and not one year as is the practice. A sign that the CDU-CSU camp was anticipating its passage in the opposition and a reshuffle of its teams. The “Jamaica” hitch is far from being the preferred option by the Germans. 53% want a coalition between SPD, Greens and FDP, and 74% believe that the CDU-CSU should withdraw into the opposition, according to a Forsa poll published on Wednesday.