Merkel's successor: the embarrassment of choice



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So many candidates for the presidency of the CDU have never been there. This forces the party into a procedure unknown to it: an election campaign organized within the party. But until where should it go?

First, only three unknown members of the party wanted to run for president of the CDU. But since the announcement of Angela Merkel, she will not attend the party congress in December, sparking as much enthusiasm as time at the CDU. The result of the council election is open. Three prominent representatives of the CDU have submitted their candidacy since Monday; it is quite possible that others are added. For this reason, for the first time in its history, the CDU must organize an internal election campaign for the party.

Until the unexpected announcement of Merkel, the Hessian entrepreneur Andreas Ritzenhoff, the 26-year-old Berlin law student, Jan-Phillip Knoop, and the Bonn international lawyer , Matthias Herdegen, were responsible for it. They had no serious prospect of success, even though the unexpected defeat of Volker Kauder in the election of the leader of the European parliamentary group in September showed how much discontent with political power was being made. was widespread in the party.

How and when

Already until Monday, it was not known how a fair election campaign would be organized within the CDU, the question being all the more urgent. With Secretary-General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn, and former leader of the parliamentary group Friedrich Merz, three of the party's main representatives want to inherit from Merkel, and the Prime Minister of the Rhineland North Rhine Westphalia, Armin Laschet, has at least not ruled out a candidacy.

They represent different wings of the party. Kramp-Karrenbauer is considered Merkel's favorite and is attributed to the bourgeois-liberal camp, conservatives Merz and Spahn. They all see their candidacy as part of a renewal process of the CDU, which requires discussion and debate.

Ritzenhoff and Herdegen still demanded a primary vote on Monday, without initially provoking an appreciable response. On the contrary – from some parts of the party, it was said that such direct participation of all members was inconsistent with the statutes. Meanwhile, the mood seems to change.

"Sexy" and "difficult"

The new CDU / CSU head of Parliament, Ralph Brinkhaus, called a "bady thought" a poll of members about the party presidency. But it's technically difficult to implement, he says. Radio GermanyBrinkhaus is also open to regional conferences, where candidates must present themselves.

This model is also used by the party's vice president, Julia Klöckner. "It will be important for candidates to introduce themselves to members, they will have the opportunity to get to know people better, their ideas and ideas," she told the "Rheinische Post". Klöckner, for clarification only, has closed his own candidacy.

Henning Otte, representative of CDU members, also pleaded for the presentation of the candidates of the base before the congress. In addition, he openly presents himself to the "Germany editorial network" for a primary election of the president: "The conditions of a survey of the members must be examined".

"More acquiescence"

The opposite position was formulated by Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans. in the ARD television He acknowledged that the party needed "grbadroots integration". But he refused a member's decision. "The principle of delegates has been proven at party congresses," said the Christian Democrat. At the same time, he asked that the party congress "finally animate" be discussed. "We breathe the debate and not this series of decisions that are made" – it is also an indication that the CDU is about to innovate.

The CDU faces weeks of discussions, but also troubles. In recent decades, the issue of leadership has always been regulated by senior committees, not always peacefully, but never above candidates at party conferences. At best, it can animate the party, in the worst case, but also make their deep division even clearer.

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