Talking of the “greatest crisis of the CDU since 1945” does not inspire “any voter to re-elect the CDU,” said Laschet on Saturday at the state party conference of the North Rhine-Westphalia CDU in Bielefeld. Such statements are “complete nonsense”. Rather, the CDU party donation affair in 2000 was in case of doubt a major crisis for the party. “Leave cups in the cupboard, approach things realistically,” said Laschet.
Previously, the Federal Minister of Health and CDU Vice-Vice President Jens Spahn said in the “Interview of the Week” on Deutschlandfunk that the CDU was in the greatest crisis in its history. Spahn also took part as a delegate at the party conference of the NRW CDU. The CDU suffered a historic defeat in the federal election at the end of September.
In Bielefeld, the NRW CDU wanted to elect Laschet’s regional transport minister, Hendrik Wüst (46), as the new regional party leader. The change in personnel becomes necessary after Laschet, who ran as the Union’s candidate for chancellor, had already made a decision before the federal election not to remain in his offices in North Rhine-Westphalia even if he failed. Wüst is expected to be elected as the new Prime Minister in the state parliament next Wednesday.