94.6 percent for Friedrich Merz, that’s not just an impressive result – Angela Merkel only got 89.5 percent in her last election to the CDU leadership. It is also the end of a long leadership crisis in the party. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Armin Laschet only made it to the top of the CDU in runoff elections. They never had the authority needed to fill their role. Merz now has the necessary authority. This gives him the chance to actually pacify the party. But the 94.6 percent are also the beginning of the next argument – namely the presidency of the Union faction. Should Ralph Brinkhaus remain leader of the parliamentary group, or should Merz also take over this office?
In the past few weeks, almost all CDU grandees have said that party and parliamentary group presidencies can be separated. However, this presupposes that those involved understand each other blindly and trust each other absolutely. It is up to Merz and Brinkhaus to find an amicable solution.
The fact that the two have not succeeded to date shows that they do not understand and trust each other sufficiently. A separation of party and parliamentary group presidency will fail under these conditions. So now there has to be a decision between Merz and Brinkhaus.
The biggest mistake made by the Union parties in the election campaign was hoping for months for an amicable solution between Armin Laschet and Markus Söder in the struggle for the chancellor candidacy. The CDU and CSU should not repeat this mistake and decide quickly this time – also because there are three state elections in which the CDU Prime Ministers have to fear for their re-election. An ongoing leadership dispute between Merz and Brinkhaus would reduce the party’s chances in Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland. And it would make the overdue new start in the CDU more difficult.
Yes, the party needs a team at the top to be successful. The full breadth of the CDU must finally become visible again. One alone can never fix it. But in the opposition you have to fight for perception. And you get that easier in the German Bundestag than in the CDU headquarters. The number one in the party must therefore also be the leader of the parliamentary group. There are reasons that Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel are at the helm of the CDU and faction when they were able to conquer the chancellorship.
Brinkhaus likes to point out that Merz has enough to do after the heavy election defeat to get the CDU back on track. The work in the party headquarters will keep the new chairman busy. Brinkhaus is right that it won’t be easy to make the CDU satisfaction capable again. But Merz has made advances. In the CDU headquarters, not only the new General Secretary Mario Czaja will give him a hand. With Christina Stumpp, a deputy general secretary is also to move in. And with Carsten Linnemann, who is to take care of the party’s program as the new CDU deputy, there will also be a kind of secondary general secretary.
Brinkhaus missed an opportunity at the party conference
Merz thus has the freedom to take over the chairmanship of the parliamentary group – and thus the function of leader of the opposition. It was two decades ago. And he proved that he can still do that with his application speech at the party conference. It was largely a tough confrontation with the Federal Chancellor and his government.
Above all, Merz now has the 94.6 percent of the party congress behind him. He has to use this momentum and immediately grab the group presidency. The majority of MPs will be sure of him – also because nobody wants to damage the newly elected CDU leader again immediately.
Brinkhaus should actually know that too. At the party conference, he not only had the opportunity to congratulate Merz on his election as CDU leader, but also to offer him the chairmanship of the parliamentary group. Brinkhaus would have lost his office, but gained considerable recognition. But Brinkhaus did not do that. If he doesn’t make up for it voluntarily, he will involuntarily have to leave the field.