personnel decision
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Mario Czaja loses post as CDU general secretary
Surprising change in personnel at the Christian Democrats: Mario Czaja, who was born in Mahlsdorf, is no longer General Secretary of the federal CDU. That was decided “by mutual agreement”, said party leader Friedrich Merz.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz is replacing his general secretary Mario Czaja after a year and a half. Both had “agreed today to end their cooperation at the top of the party,” said the CDU in Berlin on Tuesday.
The successor should therefore be the member of the Bundestag and head of the policy commission of the CDU, Carsten Linnemann.
Merz said on Twitter that it was not easy for him to make the decision to propose a change in the position of Secretary General of the CDU. He has known Czaja for many years and appreciates him, nothing will change about that. Czaja played a major role in the fact that the CDU had a successful restart after the last federal election, that the party was able to win state elections and that it was able to take the lead in the struggle for voters’ favor,” the short message continues.
Dissatisfaction with Czaja
Mario Czaja sat in the Berlin CDU from 1999 to 2021 in the House of Representatives and was Senator for Health from 2011 to 2016. The 47-year-old Czaja, who was born in Mahlsdorf, was elected General Secretary of the CDU at the beginning of 2022 to succeed Paul Ziemiak. In the vote in January last year, he received a good 94 percent of the votes.
There has been dissatisfaction with Czaja in the party for a long time – among other things, he was accused of not being sufficiently present in public. He was also not heard in party organizations in the federal states.
The 45-year-old Linnemann is considered an economic expert in the party. Merz wants to make economic policy more of a topic for the CDU in the future. The CDU boss wants to propose to the presidium and federal board this Wednesday that Linnemann be appointed acting general secretary.
Berlin CDU General Secretary Evers expresses his thanks to Czaja
From the point of view of the Berlin CDU General Secretary Stefan Evers, the party must now concentrate on the essentials after the replacement of CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja. Now it is important to “develop solutions for the urgent problems facing our country,” Evers said on Tuesday.
Evers thanked Czaja. He accompanied and supported the CDU and Merz during the difficult phase of the new beginning. At the same time, Evers congratulated Linnemann, who is considered the party’s economic expert. “I’ve known him for a long time and appreciate his work very much.”
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, July 11, 2023, 4:40 p.m