“Germany Day” of the Union: Deep cracks and many construction sites

The Junge Union’s “Germany Day” is over. What remains are the many open construction sites at the Union. Because neither the question of the party chairmanship nor the content profile have been clarified.

The CDU has arrived in the opposition – and still-party leader Armin Laschet in reality: “We have achieved a bitter result. And the responsibility for this result, as chairman and candidate for chancellor, I bear.”

Self-criticism saves him a lot. The two general secretaries of the CDU and CSU, Paul Ziemiak and Markus Blume, will be the target of the accounting. The otherwise brave delegates of the Junge Union drill into every wound: wrong candidate, mistake in the campaign, no cohesion in the Union and above all: no profile.

Many delegates are angry: “The CDU has no position on the minimum wage. No position on the question of organic or conventional agriculture. We as a people’s party have no positions on very important issues and our political arbitrariness manifests itself. I want to know who is responsible for this and how can that be prevented from never happening again? “

Röttgen is silent, Merz leaves the candidacy open

What remains are two party officials with bright red heads. Five men from North Rhine-Westphalia who use the Junge Union’s “Germany Day” as a stage are not tackled quite as hard. It is said that each of them wants to be at the top of the party. The three older ones from the group still hesitated. Foreign politician Norbert Röttgen only shows up, but does not speak.

Economic politician Friedrich Merz calls his party a “reorganization case at risk of insolvency”. Whether he wants to save them from bankruptcy, he leaves open: “I have not yet decided this question for me.” Merz and Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus talk about more team spirit and more confidentiality. Neither of them can sweep the delegates away.

Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn, on the other hand, holds a kind of application speech with a clear signal of departure. “The CDU is not finished. We wipe our mouths, we get up again, we start with a project for 2025. I don’t want another 50 fewer MPs, I want to see 100 more MPs in the German Bundestag again. and many of them also from the ranks of the Junge Union.

“Germany Day” leaves a lot of construction sites behind

Group vice-chairman Carsten Linnemann and the designated successor to Armin Laschet in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, also collect points of sympathy. He appeals: “Attitude instead of division must be the yardstick for the next few weeks.”

The deep cracks can no longer be overlooked. The “Germany Day” leaves many construction sites behind: member surveys, dual leadership, the much-touted cohesion, the lack of trust, the women’s issue and the party’s profile in terms of content.

What is emerging is a cautious emancipation from Angela Merkel, or as parliamentary group leader Brinkhaus puts it: “After the last 16 or 20 years, one thing should be clear to us, with all due respect for the people involved: We as a Union must never again be dependent on a face. “