K-question in the CDU: A touch of a showdown

Since Hendrik Wüst has ruled in NRW, he has switched to control mode. Just don’t make mistakes. All the more remarkable are his ambiguous statements about the chancellor candidacy. A declaration of war on Friedrich Merz?

Since Hendrik Wüst has been in power in Düsseldorf, one word has been on everyone’s lips there: controlled. Observers and politicians alike, whatever party they belong to, use it to describe one of the prime minister’s most striking traits – his relentless desire to keep things under control. And his will to avoid mistakes.

Control, discipline, caution – these are outstanding characteristics of the 47-year-old Munsterlander, who showed in his earlier, sometimes boisterous years as a scrappy general secretary of the NRW-CDU that he can do things differently. But when he prepared to succeed Armin Laschet a good year and a half ago, Wüst switched to control mode. Every sentence has been considered since then, he avoids linguistic excursions into impassable terrain like the devil avoids holy water.

Ambitious attacker?

It is therefore somewhat surprising that right now, on the one-year anniversary of the first black-green alliance in North Rhine-Westphalia, Wüst is making headlines nationwide with a completely different topic – namely with his relationship with Friedrich Merz. The tips against the head of the Union, which had been presented for several weeks, suddenly condensed into the image of an ambitious attacker who himself claims the chancellor candidacy.

The attempt to raise one’s own importance as prime minister, to make a name for oneself, if necessary also against others, threatened to get out of control – he of all people, the control freak. In the party, including in their own state association, Christian Democrats became restless. A Prime Minister who is also considered suitable for higher things, well and good. But an open attack on your own frontman Merz, that went too far. There was talk of impending dismantling.

The trigger was a guest article in the FAZ. “The heart of the CDU beats in the middle” can also be read as a fundamental criticism of the course of party and parliamentary group leader Merz. Unlike the 67-year-old from Sauerland, Wüst is now considered a member of the liberal wing of the CDU. He initiated this image change himself. Photos with prams, the opening of Christopher Street Day in Cologne or the presentation of the NRW State Prize to Angela Merkel – Wüst hardly missed an opportunity to present himself as anti-Merz. Friendly words about the faction leader, on the other hand, hardly came from his lips.

The boss hits back

Perhaps Wüst underestimated Merz’s irritation. The fact that he suddenly kicked back at prime time on ZDF by holding Wüst up for the high poll numbers of the AfD in NRW was probably not planned. The debate immediately threatened to become a real riot, at the absolute wrong time from the point of view of many in the CDU. The fact that things could go better for Merz himself does the rest: provocative populist statements such as those about supposed “little pashas” or the assessment of Claudia Pechstein’s controversial appearance at the CDU convention in uniform as “brilliant” are also acknowledged by several in the NRW-CDU with incomprehension.

The “dear Friedrich Merz” at the summer party

Only when Merz and Wüst demonstratively drank beer together at the summer party of the North Rhine-Westphalia state government in Berlin last week did the party’s internal policy of relaxation begin. The host had previously greeted him in front of more than 1,500 guests as “dear Friedrich Merz”. Shortly afterwards in Düsseldorf, Wüst used a joint press conference with his coalition partner, the Green Economics Minister Mona Neubaur, for a real charm offensive. Sentences like “Friedrich Merz is right” or “I see it that way too” were said with a view to the challenge posed by the AfD. With a view to the planned new CDU basic program, Wüst even said that it was “the great merit of Friedrich Merz as party leader” to have opened the process for different positions. Wüst pulled the verbal emergency brake.

Hendrik Wüst knows that many of his party friends in the state association and also in the NRW state group of the Bundestag faction are critical of Merz. Its verbal attacks, the course that is sometimes perceived as populist – that is seen with mixed feelings in the state association with the largest number of members. The NRW-CDU traditionally sees itself as a center party in which the liberal, the Christian and the conservative have their place. But in the combination. They also like to see themselves as the “social conscience” of the party. This has been the case since the days of Karl Arnold, the first freely elected head of government in North Rhine-Westphalia after the war. Politicians like Norbert Blüm, Jürgen Rüttgers and Armin Laschet have always tried to build on this.

Wüst is in a dilemma

Does Wüst really want to become chancellor? It may be, but most of the NRW-CDU are sure that Merz will not be able to take the candidacy anyway. “If Friedrich wants that, then he will too,” says a Christian Democrat from the Ruhr area. And hardly anyone doubts Merz’s will. Wust knows that too.

The Prime Minister sees himself in a strategic dilemma. If the will to move to Berlin is written all too obviously on his forehead, he may quickly be seen as a troublemaker. But if he generously renounces any claim, he could have a completely different debate to deal with: then he is considered unambitious, the safe path to political provinciality. That is exactly what happened when SPD Prime Minister Hannelore Kraft swore off possible chancellor dreams in 2013 with a clear “Never, never”.

The recent turbulence in North Rhine-Westphalia is also leading to a lot of unrest in the party because it evokes bad memories of Laschet’s candidacy for chancellor among those responsible. Should the state association get caught up in the maelstrom of federal politics again after only a short period of rest? The actual project of turning the country into “Europe’s first climate-neutral industrial region” with a black-green coalition, as stated in the coalition agreement, could go under the wheels. And with it the prospects of defending power on the Rhine and Ruhr.

Black-Green is satisfied with itself

Because from a state political point of view, blacks and greens in Düsseldorf are visibly satisfied with themselves after twelve months. On June 27, a year ago, they signed the coalition agreement. Central projects have been launched, but there are still “enormous tasks” ahead of them, according to Wüst. “I’d rather do it quietly and things move,” he says, referring to the public conflicts at the Berlin traffic lights. And his coalition partner, Neubaur, who has a penchant for pathetic metaphors, becomes lyrical: “We shake hands across this bridge.” The coalition is doing “politics suitable for grandchildren”, which, from the lips of a Green party, is supposed to be a seal of quality for political sustainability.

It’s true that the CDU and the Greens haven’t fought any major conflicts, although there certainly were opportunities for that. Not everyone likes Wüst’s strategy of staying out of conflicts as much as possible, often leaving the field to the ministers concerned. Above all, the opposition leaves no good hair to black and green. Wüst is “not an active designer”, he governs the country “in a sleeper car”, says SPD faction leader Jochen Ott. FDP leader Henning Höne also accuses the coalition of standing still. The Prime Minister is depoliticizing, he lacks the will to shape things. Instead, there are “gimmicks about the chancellor candidacy”. And further: “None of the energy that is put into it solves a problem for people in this country.”

As far as the last sentence is concerned, there should be Christian Democrats in North Rhine-Westphalia these days who see it the same way.