CSU party conference
Söder and Merz swear by the unity of the CDU and CSU
The CSU chairman and Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder sits in the plenum at the CSU party conference. photo
© Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa
No trace of dispute: CSU leader Markus Söder and CDU leader Friedrich Merz want to stand together as sister parties – also in the future.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz and CSU leader Markus Söder vowed to unite the two sister parties at the CSU party conference.
2021 should not be repeated, said Merz on Saturday in his speech in Augsburg with a view to the Union defeat in the federal election. This was the answer to the dispute between the CDU and CSU: “Fighting parties are not elected.” Merz therefore emphasized: “Such an annus horribilis that will not be repeated between the CDU and CSU.”
Söder also emphasized that if you stand together, you will be successful. And the CDU and CSU, Friedrich Merz and he, have a common idea and philosophy as to where Germany should go, said the CSU chairman.
Looking at the current poll numbers, Merz said the Union was back after a year of opposition: “We’re back in first place in Germany.”
Union no ideological family of parties
Merz has denied the accusation that he and Söder would change their policies depending on the social mood. “It has nothing to do with a change of direction. It has to do with a solid foundation on which we stand and on which we do our politics,” said Merz on Saturday on the sidelines of the CSU party conference in Augsburg. As conservatives, the CDU and CSU are “of course” able to face new challenges. “That’s what makes good conservatives.”
Söder also contradicted the impression that the CDU and CSU lacked a political compass: “I think the worst political turnnecks in Germany are the Greens. So whoever goes from a peace party to the largest weapon party, that is the largest Leap.” On the other hand, the Union “always acts appropriately to the situation. That has always been the Union’s claim”. The CDU and CSU are “not a dogmatic political family, we are not ideologues. We act according to what is appropriate for the population and the situation. Always do the right thing with a clear compass. We do the same in a crisis.”