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faAt the desk, riedrich Merz can see three words that are mounted in large characters at the end of the Schützenhalle: "Faith, custom, house". Above this 62-year-old man, the inscription "St. Sebastianus Rifle Brotherhood 1766 eV "Heavy wooden cheeks support the ceiling, half-timbering and the club's emblem decorate the room.A large mural depicts a forest landscape with tall trees and deer on a stream. Merz at home.
For the CDU, the world at the Sauerland, at Arnsberg-Oventrop, is still reasonably in order. The district badociation has about 5,000 members and is one of the largest in the country. In many communities and cities in the Sauerland, the color black has dominated politically for decades.
Merz wants to strengthen the political center
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In the race to succeed the presidency of the CDU, the three most promising candidates met for the first time. Friedrich Merz wants to reverse the downward trend of the CDU.
"It's an absolute home match for Friedrich Merz," said Hochsauerland District Chief Matthias Kerkhoff. Nearly 500 delegates came to the district convention on Saturday. They put a new item on the agenda: the appointment of Merz as a candidate for the CDU national presidency. It is clear that everyone will vote for him.
Merz is a bearer of political hope in this rural region and has, after his resignation in 2002 from the presidency of the Union faction in the Bundestag, given way to Angela Merkel. Here, Merz has remained important and, over the years, its reputation has even grown.
Every statement, every speech that he has dared since his departure from the Bundestag in 2009 has been interpreted here as a comeback. Merz has denied each time. And it also seemed that he would stay in the business world, banks and supervisory boards. His willingness now to run for president of the CDU has surprised the most in his country.
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When Merz promised to attend the party congress a year and a half ago, it was not clear that Merkel would step down from the party presidency. Originally, he wanted to talk about "populism and popular parties", but he can now touch the subject better: he must hold a speech. He is considered a conservative, an economic liberal.
In his 45-minute speech, he is now trying to increase his political volume. He is attached to the Party of the Middle People, insisting on the respect of the law "without fault", calls for more nurseries to improve the reconciliation of the professional life and the family life. It stands out from the AfD. And he sets himself a goal: at least every second from the CDU to the AfD "adrift", voters must be recovered.
Merz in Arnsberg-Oventrop. On the wall of the shooting room, the inscription "Faith, custom, fatherland"
Source: dpa
The application puts Merz under the motto "departure and renewal" and at the same time emphasizes that it "would not upset everything, would not change everything". In the case of his election as head of the party, he would work "fairly, properly and loyally" with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Attributions that he is "the anti-Merkel" he calls "stupid things". He avoids personal criticism of the leader of the outgoing party, but takes a step back in its content. With regard to energy policy and refugee policy, its European neighbors have been "crushed and marginalized". Germany's policy must be "compatible in all respects with a common path towards a European future," he said.
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Merz demands that, in European politics, French President Emmanuel Macron, who "desperately wants a German partner", be much closer. He moved away from the AfD, complaining of the radicalization of language. He wants decency in the face of political opponents, but also between them within the Union.
The candidate criticizes the summer crisis of the Union and warns against decay. The cohesion of CDU and CSU is a "sympathetic construction". Merz nevertheless complies with CSF head Horst Seehofer, without naming him: "We do not let a Chancellor stand next to a CSU party desk. Not even if it's a woman. "
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About his opponents, the Sauerland loses no word. He congratulated Health Minister Jens Spahn on his efforts to recruit foreign nurses, and spoke with sympathy to Secretary-General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
A delegate then asked the speaker: "What do you think of a dual leadership within the CDU? FM and AKK are unbeatable." I hope that in my case, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer will continue to play a role important at the top of the CDU, "said Merz.
Later, a reporter in the next room asks if Spahn will withdraw his candidacy. Merz shakes his head. Spahn also has the right to be a candidate. Then the door is heard: at the end, the delegates sound the national anthem.
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