After the federal election on Sunday, two candidates for chancellor in Germany position themselves to form a government: election winner Olaf Scholz (63) from the SPD and the defeated Armin Laschet (60) from the CDU / CSU. Despite the election failure, Laschet wants to form a government, vying for the same parties as Scholz, namely the Greens and the FDP.
But Laschet is blowing an icy wind around his ears from within his own ranks. Prominent figures even demand that he give up begging and that the CDU / CSU refrain from participating in the government.
No entitlement to government participation
The state parliament member Ellen Demuth (39) from Rhineland-Palatinate goes very hard in court with Laschet. “Avoid further damage to the CDU and step back,” she tweeted.
The Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (46) is also one of the sharp critics. “I see a clear will of the electorate, which has made it clear: The Union is not the first choice this time,” he railed. He could not understand that the party leadership was talking about a government mandate.
The Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (54), who was defeated by Laschet as candidate for chancellor in the internal march, said that the Union could not lay claim to governance after the fall in the federal elections. The Union had landed in second place and not one. Söder: “We mustn’t gloss it over.”
Laughter cost many voices
The anger among the CSU Young Party is particularly great. Laschet stepped into every faux pas that one could step into, it was said. Among other things, the boys are alluding to the fact that Laschet was photographed laughing while visiting a flood-flood area. This insensitive laugh, so many believe after the election, cost Laschet and the Union the election victory.
Armin Laschet had just been badly accepted within the Bavarian CSU. In some areas, his poster was not even hung up. They would much rather have seen their Markus Söder as the Union’s candidate for chancellor. Söder, who was always much more popular than Laschet in surveys.
The CDU / CSU, which had been Chancellor Angela Merkel (67) for the past 16 years, fell within four years from 32.9 percent to an all-time low of 24.1 percent. The SPD made a jump from 20.5 to 25.7 percent.
When does he give up?
Laschet admitted to the media on Monday that the result could not satisfy the Union. But at least he caught up in the final sprint and prevented a red-red-green coalition, since the left has practically fallen into insignificance with five percent.
He also admitted that he had a personal share in the poor result. And said: “A renewal of the Union must take place – at all levels.”
This is a very dangerous statement for him, because a fundamental renewal of the party can only happen without politicians like Laschet. It is therefore quite possible that the Union will soon take Laschet out of the running under internal pressure and will forego both the Chancellery and government participation.