Friedrich Merz: "There is no Sharia law on German soil"

reCDU presidential candidate Friedrich Merz called on German Muslims to accept German law without any restrictions. "There is no Sharia right on German soil here," Merz said Wednesday at the CDU regional conference in Düsseldorf.

It is also necessary for the state to better control Koranic schools. Freedom of religion in Germany also applies to Muslims, Merz emphasized. But for them also applies "all the remaining secular law of this state, and without any restrictions".

The secretary general of the CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said that if we do not want Koranic schools in Germany, we must make a government offer for a German-language education of Muslims. In addition, according to the model of North Rhine-Westphalia, Muslim religious teachers should be trained in German.

The third promising CDU presidential candidate, Jens Spahn, demanded that the German mosques be no longer financed from abroad. "We want President Steinmeier to open mosques, not Turkish President Erdogan." At the end of September, Recep Tayyip Erdogan had opened the Ditib Central Mosque in Cologne as part of a state visit.

Former Union faction leader, Merz, also campaigned for Christian Democrats to be better known. "It has suffered from the clarity of our positions," said Merz before some 4,000 participants at the regional conference. Merz added, "And you have no position to take on the SPD."

Merz was convinced that his party was reversing the trend of large CDU losses in recent parliamentary elections and weak polls at the federal level. "We can, yes, we must oppose this trend," said Merz.

The secretary general of the CDU, Kramp-Karrenbauer, rejected Merz's criticism of the CDU taking control of the SPD's positions. The CDU had "in the past also had to make compromises" and thus "took positions". "But we have not taken any positions."

Kramp-Karrenbauer stressed that the CDU was "strong when it discusses, but when it discusses constructively". Claiming the electorate of his party, the general secretary of the CDU appointed the brand to 40% of the vote – it was "the margin we want to achieve" and the party wanted to be measured.

End of the solos "a matter of justice"

Federal Health Minister Spahn has campaigned at the NRW Regional Conference for "modern patriotism", which invites and does not exclude. "Let's face what makes us what makes us successful."

Spahn also spoke again to end the solidarity surcharge. It was "a matter of justice that we finally abolish the solos". The Minister of Health has also campaigned for technological development and digitization to be a future opportunity. Christian Democrats should be "those who enter and shape the future".

In an interview with the newspaper, Kramp-Karrenbauer acknowledged the fundamental desire to be available for the post of Federal Chancellor. "If you apply to the presidency of the CDU, it is clear that the question of the candidate to the Chancellor will be at least asked," said Kramp-Karrenbauer, the "Stuttgarter Zeitung" and the "Stuttgarter Nachrichten".

Merz again met at the Düsseldorf Regional Conference the badessment that he could not work with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) after a vote for the president of the CDU. "Of course it's okay," said Merz. Merkel and he have always followed the rule of "first the country, then the party".

The CDU event in Dusseldorf was the sixth of a total of eight regional conferences, during which the three candidates from the party's base have run or are yet to run. The new president of the CDU will be elected at a congress of the federal party in Hamburg in early December.

The CDU regional conference in North Rhine-Westphalia was particularly important as the state CDU provides about one-third of the 1001 delegates of the party congress in Hamburg.

In addition, Merz and Spahn both belong to their state party badociation in North Rhine-Westphalia. Due to the interest generated, the Düsseldorf regional conference was moved from a hotel room to a showroom.

The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, was only a brief appearance at the presentation of the three most promising candidates for the CDU's national presidency in Düsseldorf. At the head of the NRW-CDU, Laschet greets briefly and then wants to go to an appointment already agreed in Bochum.

Laschet appealed to the three candidates, even in case of defeat in the elections of December 7 at the CDU party conference in Hamburg, they will continue to work for the party. "No matter who wins, we also need the other two to show how broad we are as a popular party.