Schwerin
Philipp Amthor suffers a faint attack at the CDU press conference
Bundestag member Philipp Amthor (CDU)
© Jens Büttner / DPA
Philipp Amthor is to become CDU general secretary in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. At a press conference he briefly collapses. But he smiles away his attack of weakness.
When he was introduced as the future general secretary of the CDU in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the member of the Bundestag Philipp Amthor suffered a brief attack of weakness. Standing at a table next to the designated state party leader Daniel Peters, Amthor’s legs suddenly buckled during the press conference in Schwerin on Wednesday. He fell to the ground, remained there for a few seconds, but then got up again and, after a short break, continued to answer the journalists’ questions. He gave the possible reason for the break that he hadn’t eaten anything that day, and then added in his usual humorous manner that a relaxing Easter holiday was obviously not good for a workaholic like him.
Bundestag member Philipp Amthor is to become CDU general secretary in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The designated state party leader Daniel Peters announced on Wednesday in Schwerin that he would propose Amthor for the office of general secretary.
CDU General Secretary: Philipp Amthor should succeed Peters
Peters, who currently works as general secretary of the Northeast CDU, will run for state chairmanship at the state party conference on April 13th in Rostock. After the surprising announcement of the resignation of the previous party leader Franz-Robert Liskow at the beginning of this year, Amthor was again considered a possible candidate for the top office. But the 31-year-old from Ueckermünde rejected this on the grounds that he currently sees his political place in federal politics.
As the new Secretary General, Amthor would intervene in state politics much more than before. Peters had recently repeatedly used this office for violent verbal attacks against the red-red coalition led by Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD).
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There is currently no opposing candidate to Peters as the new state party leader. The 42-year-old from Rostock had emphasized that he wanted to lead the party in the long term and thus end the ongoing leadership crisis. According to his own statements, he is also available as the top candidate for the 2026 state elections. Peters would be the fourth CDU state leader in just over four years. In the 2021 state election, the state party, which has almost 4,500 members, achieved its worst result to date with 13.3 percent. This makes it only the third strongest force in parliament, behind the SPD and AfD.