Seehofer's party also thinks it's time to name a new foreman

He had no intention, assured Horst Seehofer last week, of becoming the scapegoat for the poor performance of the CSU in the October Bavarian state elections. But it no longer escapes this fate, the 69-year-old president of the CSU, Minister of the Interior in Berlin and eternal opponent of Angela Merkel.

Under pressure from his own party, Seehofer announced Monday that after ten to hand over the leadership of the Bavarian Christian Democrats. The previous evening had been strongly encouraged at a private meeting of the party summit.

Seehofer is reproached for failing to draw the immediate consequences of the poor election results: the CSU lost more than 10 percentage points on October 14 and with it its absolute majority in Bavaria. Meanwhile, Seehofer wants to retain his ministerial post.

Read: Horst Seehofer leaves his post of party chairman, CSU, remains minister

Relief

When Chancellor Merkel unexpectedly announced that two weeks ago she CDU, jack-of-all-trades, she not only gathered relief in their own ranks, but also respect. Seehofer, who has repeatedly referred to a departure in recent years, has blown so much that he can only rely on relief, according to the commentary of Süddeutsche Zeitung .

Seehofer is certainly not the only one. who blames the discomfort at his party. But he made an important contribution. Twice, he has brought the government coalition to Berlin in the past six months, through clashes with Merkel and his coalition partner, SPD, on the brink of collapse. It was bad for the voters.

Since the 2015 refugee crisis and the subsequent rise of the AfD, Seehofer has confused the attacker on Merkel's policy, but has nevertheless continued to be part of his government. . While this government was fine – tuning its policy with regard to asylum seekers, Seehofer continued to complain, like the AfD, that nothing was happening.

Seehofer was particularly concerned that a new party had formed to the right of the Christian Democratic Party, the AfD. But he could not prevent the dump on the right. In the meantime, he lost a lot of good will in the political center, so the CSU also lost voters to the Greens.

Restart

In Bavaria, the shrunken CSU managed to form a government in a few weeks with the Freie Wähler, a conservative partnership of local electoral associations. In Berlin, Merkel's grand coalition hopes to make a fresh start after this difficult start, thanks to which the gradual withdrawal of Seehofer can help. But quite in his style, he left in the middle for the moment he just took office as president. The SPD immediately asked him to give up his ministry.

The success of the coalition's recovery will depend heavily on who will become the party's new president, the CDU and the CSU. Party presidents play an important role in regular coalition talks. Merkel and Seehofer will have to get used to a situation in which someone else is in such a position. The CDU chooses a new president at the beginning of December, for which three top candidates have a chance. At the CSU, the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder should assume the presidency of the party.