Ex-Parliamentary Group Leader: Nominate Frederick Merz for CDU Presidency

Status: 8:38 PM| Reading time: 3 minutes

NSThe leader of the union’s parliamentary group, Friedrich Mers, ran for the third time in a row for the presidency of the Christian Democratic Union. The board of directors of its CDU unanimously nominated 66-year-old Hochsauerland on Monday evening at a digital meeting to poll the upcoming members on the party’s future head. In addition to Merz, foreign politician Norbert Röttgen and CEO of the Chancellery, Helge Braun, announced their candidacy to succeed Armin Laschet. The new president is due to be elected by 1,001 delegates at a party convention in Hanover on Jan. 21, following a planned member poll in December.

Merz clarified his candidacy at the meeting, according to a press release. He was quoted as saying, “I thank the members of our region’s CEOs for their nomination and once again apply for the position of President of the CDU in Germany.” They encouraged this nomination.” Merz said that at noon on Tuesday he would “present my part of the new CDU leadership team that is advancing with me in Berlin.”

CDU President Matthias Kerkhove said: “We support this request with full conviction and will support Friedrich Merz on his way. He can count on the CDU in Hochsauerlandkreis.” Merz is already approaching the party leader’s office for the third time after the now-only executive chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced her withdrawal. From the chair in 2018.

The deadline for submitting other candidates to succeed Chairman Armin Laschet, who failed after less than a year, runs until 6 p.m. Wednesday. Then proposals must be submitted in writing to the CDU Federal Office.

At CDU, preparations are underway for a round of introductions for candidates to succeed Armin Laschet as CDU President. According to information from dpa in Berlin, there must be at least one format in which all applicants present themselves to members and also be broadcast on the Internet or on TV, for example. At the beginning of November, the Federal Executive Board also decided that potential candidates should present themselves on the CDU’s homepage for a member survey that begins on December 4. There should be a standard format with a photo and a short CV.

Even critics doubt that Merz will be ahead in the member poll

Since no formal decision on the president could be made through a member questionnaire, the CDU leadership also decided that the candidate should be proposed to the party convention by the board of directors by an absolute majority. The new president is then scheduled to be elected on January 21 by 1,001 delegates at a party conference in Hanover. The poll of nearly 400,000 members on the future party leader begins on December 4.

Merz isn’t just in pole position for his supporters in the first round of the member poll, which is supposed to run through December 16. Even critics suspect he’s likely to be the top spot among members over the age of 60 on average – also because of his level of consciousness. Merz will likely be chosen primarily by those who, after the Merkel years of the political center, are eager to return to the party’s core conservative values. Among the women, he usually had few supporters in his earlier requests. You can hear a lot of fans in the CDU, at Merz with the conservatives and in the east of the country and also with the Junge Union and in the economic wing.

The party successor to the failed candidate of Chancellor Laschet will have to master at the same time difficult tasks: give a new completely insecure self-confidence, prevent further division, repair the badly damaged relationship with the Bavarian little sister CSU and promote a new profile in terms of content. The union also needs a strong opposition leader.