coalition
Merz: I will not allow a power struggle over the candidacy for chancellor
The CDU chairman Friedrich Merz does not want to allow another power struggle over the candidacy for chancellor. photo
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
Will there be another fight in the Union next year when it comes to the K question? The CDU chairman Friedrich Merz absolutely wants to prevent this. Will he succeed?
“Markus Söder and I simply understand each other too well personally,” said Merz to the German Press Agency in Berlin. “And he also knows that we will not and do not want to repeat it like it did in 2021.” The CDU chairman added: “I will not allow something like this to happen again.”
When asked whether he was the “natural candidate for chancellor” in an early Bundestag election, Merz answered cautiously. “We talk about this in the Union between the CDU and CSU. First the party chairmen, then of course also the state chairmen. When the time comes. And we will stick to that.”
The office of Chancellor requires experience, strong nerves, leadership and teamwork, said Merz. We will discuss this and then make a decision together. Of course, he also talks to his family about the topic. As before, he will not make any decision “that does not meet with the approval of my family.”
Humility and respect
Merz said about a possible candidacy for chancellor that he was approaching this question “with great humility and great respect because I know that this office is the most important office that can be given politically in the Federal Republic of Germany.” The office demands a high level of international presence and a high level of international respect. “I also have to take a number of factors into account, which I will carefully reflect on and decide on for myself. This is not something that can be taken for granted.”
When asked whether there was anything against him becoming a candidate for chancellor, Merz replied: “The question of which groups of voters I reach as a person is an issue.” In addition, he will turn 70 a few weeks after the next regular federal election in the fall of the year after next. “After (the first CDU chancellor) Konrad Adenauer, I would be the oldest applicant for the office of Chancellor in the Federal Republic of Germany. These are considerations that I have to keep an eye on.”
When it was pointed out that the likely presidential candidates in the USA in the 2024 elections there would be significantly older, Merz said: “And precisely because it is like that in the USA, for me it is more of a warning not to just take it for granted “It’s clear that at this age you can still fill such an office.” US President Joe Biden is 81 years old, his possible challenger and predecessor Donald Trump is 77 years old.
He feels fit, said Merz. When he recently wanted to fly with a Bundeswehr Eurofighter, he was checked “for seven hours” at the Bundeswehr Aviation Medical Center – and there were no complaints.
Time for decision on K question remains open
The question of when the Union will decide on the K question depends on two factors, said Merz. “Firstly, when will the federal election actually take place? Secondly, if it doesn’t take place until autumn 2025, then we need a year’s notice for the candidate to really prepare for the election.” With a view to Söder’s move to decide on the candidate for chancellor only after the state elections in September 2024, Merz said: “That could be after these state elections in the east, it could also be before. That is a question of the political assessment of the situation and that will be we do together.” The following applies: “The two party chairmen are, in principle, always potential candidates.”
Merz: I will continue to formulate this more pointedly in the future
The CDU chairman defended controversial statements such as those about “little pashas” or the description of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) as the “plumber of power”. “The opposition leader has to formulate things pointedly every now and then so that an issue becomes an issue. And only through the contradiction does it become an issue.” He set such topics. He will continue to do this in the future: “I will not fundamentally change or pretend. I am the way I am with all my strengths and my weaknesses. That’s part of it.”