After massive pressure: Seehofer announces its resignations

Seehofer wants to make a personal statement during the week, he said tonight at a meeting of the closest leaders of the CSU in Munich. As a result, there could be a special party conference in January or February with a new election of the president of the CSU. A concrete date to which he wishes to hand over the post of Minister leaves Seehofer still open. But he made it clear that he would not stay without the party presidency or the minister of the interior. "2019 will be the year of CSU renewal," said Seehofer participants.

The 69-year-old defenseman is preparing for the election of a replacement for the position of CSU president on a special day early next year, the DPA has learned. to the circles of participants. The most promising successor to the post of director of the CSU is now the former and the new Bavarian Prime Minister, Markus Söder. Aged 51, he would then inherit Seehofer for the second time, having already taken up his post as head of the German government in March.

Expected resignation

With a resignation, Seehofer as boss of the CSU was more and more expected in recent weeks. The first priority was the formation of a government in Bavaria, where the CSU now supports a coalition partner after losing an absolute majority.

The coalition agreement with free voters is now signed, Söder re-elected and sworn in as prime minister. The cabinet will be named Monday. Seehofer announced at the meeting that after the swearing-in "during the week", he wanted to explain his future in a concrete way. Previously, Manfred Weber, a European politician of the CSU, left open on German television the opportunity to succeed Seehofer. "We have a leader of the ruling party," he answered a similar question from the ZDF program "Berlin direct".

But Weber said that Seehofer "in the coming week" will publicly explain his position, as it is expected to continue after the vote losses of more than ten percentage points in the elections in the state of Bavaria with the CSU in terms of content and staff. "Then we will continue to watch," said Weber, who has just been voted the best candidate of the European People's Party (EPP) in the European elections.

CSU crash

CSU collapsed in the October 14 legislative elections to only 37.2%. Large parts of the festival make Seehofer particularly responsible. He is criticized for being too harsh on the chancellor, the main culprit in two government crises, of his "resignation" in the refugee policy dispute last summer and the fall of the president, defender Hans-Georg Maaßen. constitutional protection.

Already after the bankruptcy of the CSU in the federal elections last year, Seehofer could only be appointed head of the CSU because he was ready, after long quarrels, to entrust the post of prime minister to Söder. Even then, Seehofer acted, but finally under mbadive internal pressure, including the CSU parliamentary group.

In parallel with the formation of the government, the internal pressure on Seehofer had become stronger. More and more district and district badociations, more and more deputies and county councils have turned away from him and asked – sometimes more, sometimes less directly – the resignation of Seehofer and a special party with new elections. The debate was fueled and accelerated by the announcement by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to entrust the presidency of the CDU in December.