The leadership of the opposition is not an official office but an informal function. But Friedrich Merz is now filling this function so comprehensively that he could also be awarded an official certificate as a leader of the opposition. After the CDU recently elected him their party leader with such enthusiasm that it brought tears to Merz’s eyes, the Union faction has now also elected him their chairman with an enormous result. The last Union opposition leader with such power was a female opposition leader. And it is a joke of history that about twenty years ago Angela Merkel ousted Merz from the parliamentary group chair as mercilessly as Merz is doing with Ralph Brinkhaus now.
Sometimes he flirts with nuclear power, sometimes with the boycott of vaccinations for nursing staff
A political career that seemed to have ended several times is thus experiencing an almost unreal comeback. Party and parliamentary group are at Merz’s feet and two who just looked like internal adversaries have now apparently surrendered to him without any problems. In addition to Brinkhaus, there is also CSU boss Markus Söder, who suddenly acts as if he had always dreamed of a Frederick the Great whom he could serve and stand by.
All these voltes can only be explained halfway conclusively with the fact that the CDU and CSU are still traumatized by themselves. In the 2021 federal election campaign, the Union started with a kind of quadruplet. The more tolerated than loved CDU chairman Armin Laschet acted next to the week-long candidate for chancellor Söder and the Union faction leader Brinkhaus, who in turn squinted at higher ordinations, while Chancellor Angela Merkel was still working somewhere in the background. And not infrequently it looked as if all four were acting in four different directions. The result is known and the Union is back in opposition after 16 years. A decline without which Merz’s late rise would have been unthinkable.
The longing for unity is omnipresent in the Union these days. And those involved are now apparently also accepting that this consensus is practically indistinguishable from the position of Friedrich Merz for the time being.
The leader of the opposition has made it clear several times how he intends to fulfill his new role. You could call that a constructive provocation course. Sometimes Merz flirts with the revival of nuclear power, sometimes with the boycott of vaccinations for nursing staff, only to let it be known in the background that everything was not meant so wildly. He’s been trying to inoculate his people for weeks that they finally have to switch to opposition mode. That means: Don’t act destructively, but don’t miss an opportunity to drive the traffic light coalition a little ahead of you. not weather have to, the must – that is the motto.
Depending on the political point of view, Friedrich Merz is good as a projection surface for a savior or an enemy. For some it will probably be easier to vote for the Union again, for others it will be more logical to despise it. That might make the political debate a bit rougher from time to time, but not necessarily less interesting.