Merz and Islam: "It is not possible that our children are indoctrinated in Koranic schools"

BArmin Laschet would not have appeared near the regional conference of the CDU North Rhine-Westphalia. Some media had previously announced that the president of the Christian Democrats, the largest member of the Union of Christian Democrats, would be absent from the cast of candidates for the presidency of the party with Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Friedrich Merz and Jens Spahn at Messe Düsseldorf. As a result, he preferred to take important dates simultaneously as prime minister of NRW.

It would have been rather strange and it looked like we were about to find ourselves in a stalemate. Laschet will be in hall 9 for a short time Wednesday night and greet you for six minutes. The outgoing party's vice president, Angela Merkel, highlighted to 4,000 itinerant members of the party once again cohesion. "There will not be three winners, no matter who wins, we also need the other two to show how broad we are as a popular party," Laschet said before heading to Bochum.

Laschet is still avoiding a recommendation because he is in a difficult situation. Merz (63) and Spahn (38) are from the NRW-CDU, but in terms of content, Laschet is much more related to Saarland Kramp-Karrenbauer (56). He believes that "this time, the national origin does not play such a strong role.Therefore, as NRW-CDU, we will not vote for a candidate," said Mr. Laschet at the same time. an interview with WELT AM SONNTAG. Too big is obviously the risk of betting on the bad candidate because it is unclear who will win in the end. The NRW-CDU represents about one-third of the 1,001 delegates attending the CDU Federal Party Congress on 7 December in Hamburg.

Nobody dares to climb face to face

It is the sixth of eight regional conferences. For three hours, the three candidates speak and answer. Much has been said about meetings and many interviews. It is interesting to note that the aggravations and mutual attacks of recent days have been conducted exclusively through the media. Face to face, the candidates in Düsseldorf do not dare to confront each other.

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Nobody has been interested in climbing the past few days because of the many questions asked. Merz's statement that the CDU would have "ignored" the rise of the AfD was not in doubt, nor Kramp-Karrenbauer's response that such allegations were a "slap" to anyone in the CDU had been fighting for years. Wrong information and partial baits by the AfD fought. No one has lost the word on Merz's critical view of German asylum law.

All three stand out in a different way: Merz as a returnee with an outside view, Kramp-Karrenbauer as an insider who explored the party during his "listening tour" as secretary-general , the Federal Minister of Health, Spahn, as a young challenger. He flirts with his age and mischievously remarks that if you are 38 and you are "very young" at the CDU, you have to worry about the age structure of the party.

"Do not ask us uncomfortable questions"

Merz dared in his ten-minute enforcement speech once again the most important demarcation and recalled that the CDU had obtained in the general election of 2017, the worst election result after 1949, a loss of several percentage points in state elections. We must stop this trend and turn around. "We have not done enough uncomfortable issues in recent years, and he has suffered from the clarity of our positions," said Merz. There were no more open discussions or clear positions. "You do not have to take charge of all aspects of the SPD," Merz said.

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Participants asked for answers on fundamental points of view, such as those of the middle clbad, nurses or the social market economy. After an hour and a half, the question and answer session was devoted to migration. "How should their migration and integration policies differ from those of the Chancellor?", Is interviewed one of the participants. There was no direct answer. Merz and Kramp-Karrenbauer both defended the UN pact on migration unless new immigration and asylum issues are created. Merz was greeted with applause when he repeated Chancellor Angela Merkel's statement that the situation of the refugee crisis in 2015 should not be repeated. Kramp-Karrenbauer received applause when she called for various measures and again asked foreign offenders to leave the country.

Spahn stands out more clearly from Merkel's policy on refugees, stressing that he had already spoken of a "kind of failure of the state" in 2015. He was applauded by the declaration that it was decisive that we managed to secure together our external border in Europe. So a lot of questions, such as an eviction would not arise. "The best immigration law does not matter if everyone can come," said Spahn to applause.

"There is no Islamic law on German soil"

On the subject of Islam, Merz gave the clearest signal and urged Muslims to accept German law without any restrictions. "There is no sharia here on German soil, we need to have better control of the Koranic schools by the state, not that our children are taking clbades in public schools and being indoctrinated in Koranic schools, "said Merz. Religious freedom also applies to Muslims. For them, however, also applies "all the remaining secular law of this state, and without any restrictions".

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After three hours, NRW-CDU General Secretary Josef Hovenjürgen closed the regional conference and enthusiastically declared: "It is a lived democracy". Merz was sometimes applauded in the showroom, but opinions on the candidates of the national badociation diverge. Even the powerful district leaders of the CDU are looking for a clear recommendation to not shock anyone. Merz has the biggest support among the members, they say. Kramp-Karrenbauer, in turn, enjoys considerable respect from the elected representatives.