Friedrich Merz convinced of his choice

More than three regional conferences, the CDU elects its party leader – or the party leader? For the candidate Friedrich Merz, the result is clear.

CDU Secretary General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer spoke of her party's failure to cope with the loss of the Union's voice and the emergence of the AfD. She said Tuesday night in Böblingen, at a regional conference organized as part of the presidential contest of the CDU, that the population and members would have felt that the party had not taken sufficient charge legitimate fears and fears. "In this case, we should not be surprised if exactly these people are looking for parties where they have at least the impression of worrying about it." The second candidate, Friedrich Merz, warned the Union against social democratization: "We must not badume all the positions that the Social Democrats find just," he said.

Kramp-Karrenbauer, Merz and the third promising candidate, Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn, came to Böblingen for the fifth of eight regional conferences. This Wednesday, we will travel to Düsseldorf – in the largest regional badociation CDU-North Rhine-Westphalia, which includes Merz and Spahn. Then there will be only two conferences in Bremen on Thursday and Berlin on Friday. The decision on the succession of non-resident Angela Merkel at the head of the CDU goes to the Congress of the Federal Party on 7 December in Hamburg.

Like its competitors, Spahn told Böblingen that the CDU had lost a lot of confidence in it. It must lead to wider and more controversial debates again. On the economic front, Germany is doing better than ever, but many uncertainties remain, including whether the policy is doing enough to ensure prosperity.

Böblingen: CDU's three presidential candidates, Friedrich Merz (left), Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Jens Spahn, answer questions from party members at the CDU regional conference. (Source: dpa)

Merz was optimistic in the newspapers of the media group Funke to win the race for the presidency of the party. "Not only do I have the intention but also the firm conviction to be elected president of the CDU," he said. After his election, he would have "conversed with Angela Merkel in a detailed and confidential manner". And he will write to all those who left the CDU in recent years – "and ask them to come back."

Merz reiterated his call for a fundamental simplification of the tax system that he had previously put in place that needed to be able to make his tax return on a coaster. "Of course, the new beer mat is a smartphone tax app," he told Spark newspapers.

Kramp-Karrenbauer described the previous contest of candidates as positive and invigorating for the party. She told the "Pbadauer Neue Presse": "Until now, the competition is fair, even if some issues are treated critically.It is clear that the party needs to strengthen after the party congress and remain closed."

In his election as President of the CDU, Spahn announced special days devoted to the environment and to Europe. "The CDU must fundamentally discuss the issues of the future," he told the "Rheinische Post".