Germany: Angela Merkel’s party leader agreed to resign as chancellor to facilitate a government coalition

The head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Angela Merkel, Armin Laschet said on Thursday he was ready to step down as leader of the Tories, although he did not confirm the decision, after the electoral debacle which left them on the fringes of the opposition. Further, he stated that a possible coalition with the Greens and the Liberals will not fail because of its responsibility.

“We will quickly address the issue of new CDU team, from president to party leadership and federal executive committee“, He assured at a press conference from Berlin, while he has been in office for less than a year.

Laschet, 60, known for his tenacity, clarified that will demand the celebration of a congress of the CDU to decide “on the future and the reorganization” at the head of the party. He did not specify when or where.

“Since the withdrawal of Angela Merkel of the party presidency we have an incessant debate “on the party leadership, noted. According to the newspaper picture, the congress could be held in December in Dresden (in the east of the country).

On several occasions he insisted that a a possible government coalition with the Liberals and the Greens will not fail for him.

“It is not about the person Armin Laschet, it is about the country”, declared while affirming that he still considers possible to negotiate a government coalition between the conservatives (CDU plus its sister Christian-Social Union, CSU) and the Liberal Party (FDP) and the Greens, known as the Jamaican coalition.

“I bet on Jamaica, it is the alliance of modernization”Laschet insisted the same day previous talks between the Liberals, the Greens and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of the candidate most voted in the September 26 elections, Olaf Scholz, for the coalition ‘traffic lights’, by the colors with which these parts are identified.

“The CDU offer still stands”, Laschet rivé, whose party neither the Greens nor the Liberals chose as the first option to negotiate a coalition after some initial contacts after the legislative elections. Yet he left the door open for the CDU, which potentially negotiates with the Greens and the Liberals, does not have it in mind.

“If things work better with other people, I have no problem, go ahead. There is the party first and then the people.”Laschet said during a closed-door session of his party’s joint parliamentary group and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), German media reported.

Laschet himself confirmed this provision when he appeared, without asking questions, before the press. Within the CDU / CSU there are voices which in recent days they asked to go into the opposition and accept electoral defeat.

The CSU President and Bavarian Prime Minister, Markus Söder, who was initially open to the option of forming a coalition with the Greens and the Liberals, practically ruled out this variant when the two groups decided to prioritize discussions with the Social Democrats.

The CDU holds responsible Laschet for the worst Conservative election result (24.1%) in modern German history. And many observers wonder about the political future of the current leader.

(With AFP, EFE and Reuters information)

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