The CDU meets for three days at the party conference in Berlin-Neukölln. What’s going on there? What do you have to pay attention to? Everything important in the grand scheme of things star-Party conference bingo.
From Monday, the CDU will meet for three days in Berlin’s Estrel Hotel. What can we expect from this XXL party conference? How many speeches does Friedrich Merz give? Would Carsten Linnemann perhaps take a moment to relax? The star has brought together the most important topics and temperaments: from traffic lights to the central committee. A lively party conference bingo – not just for Christian Democrats.
Traffic light – Always on it, always on it. The SPD, Greens and FDP will be the main target of criticism, scorn and ridicule at this party conference. The background noise of all speeches will be: This traffic light has completely unsettled this country!
BSW – It doesn’t work, it works, maybe it works? Should the CDU work with the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance? These and other coalition speculations will accompany the party conference and provide topics of conversation on the sidelines.
Christian – The Union derives its positions from the Christian view of humanity. She says. It takes people as they are – and not as they should be. Criticism from the left will cast doubt on this self-perception in the coming days.
The CDU is still dealing with the FDP
debate – This party is alive. She discusses, she argues, she finds consensus. In short: The CDU can debate. The party leadership wants to prove that with this XXL party conference.
Europe – The focus is on the third and final day. The hot phase of the European election campaign begins for the Union on Wednesday.
FDP – The CDU is still dealing with its liberal friends in the political death zone. Emphasis on: yet. Maybe that’s why we should particularly enjoy these moments of black and yellow nostalgia.
STERN PAID 19_24 Green CDU 3 p.m
Basic program – On Tuesday the content should be the focus. Just a few final arguments about whether it should be called equality or equality, bang, done, then the CDU has a new basic program – and Friedrich Merz has kept his promise to renew the party’s content.
Höcke – The firewall for the AfD is in place. The Union will send this signal again; it cannot do it often enough. The TV duel between CDU man Mario Voigt and fascist Björn Höcke is now being sold in the Union as a best practice example in dealing with the AfD, certainly again at this party conference.
Islam – Originally this sentence was supposed to be in the basic program: “Muslims who share our values belong to Germany.” This caused criticism from Islamic associations. Now the sentence goes like this: “An Islam that does not share our values and rejects our free society does not belong to Germany.” This could pass in the Estrel Hotel – but Islamic associations continue to criticize it as exclusionary.
The K question is decided in a dialogue
Young Union – The young people want to get involved aggressively in the debates. This will be particularly interesting if it comes back to compulsory military service. The JU has developed its own concept for this purpose. Can she convince the parent party of this?
K question – Well, who’s doing it now? Who will be the candidate for chancellor? This will not be decided at the party conference. But after three days of Merz celebrations, even the last CDU Prime Minister will probably have to realize that the K question will be decided in a dialogue between the CDU leader and himself. “Friedrich, do you want to do that?” – “Yes, Friedrich, you have to do it now!” Quite simple actually. But then there is still Markus Söder.
Linnemann – CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann wants to give people in Germany support, orientation and confidence. And with so much confidence and drive, he sometimes seemed as if he urgently needed to stop himself so as not to lose his bearings. Because three days of party conferences obviously don’t demand enough of a Linnemann, the general goes for a quick run on Tuesday morning at seven o’clock with all the delegates who are similarly inclined. Just take a break? Doesn’t know Linnemann.
Merz – The CDU leader can go into the party conference completely relaxed. There may certainly still be enough party members who have their problems with him and his ways. But in terms of craftsmanship, they can’t really blame Merz at the moment. The party acts united. The next federal election can come. No question: Merz will be re-elected as chairman on Tuesday with a good result. These three days could – not only in retrospect – seem like an early coronation mass on the way to the Chancellery.
STERN PAID 19_24 Philipp Amthor 09.08
Neukölln – It may not be everywhere, but it belongs to Germany. CDU boss Merz also knows this, who presented his team for the third attempt at the CDU presidency at the Estrel Hotel in November 2021. At that time, Merz welcomed the press to “East Berlin”. That won’t happen to him again.
east – There will still be no lack of focus on East Germany in this state parliament super election year. So that you have heard the names before: Jan Redmann is running for the CDU in Brandenburg. Michael Kretschmer wants to remain Prime Minister of Saxony. And the aforementioned Mario Voigt wants to go to the state chancellery in Thuringia. He should also be elected to the federal party’s executive committee at the party conference.
percent – In surveys, the Union is stable at around 30 percent. Nothing more is possible right now. Why not? That is the one percent question before the party conference. The other is: Who gets what percentage in the presidential and board elections? And above all: what result will Merz get? In 2022 it was 95.33 percent. The party leadership assumes that it will be less this time. This is completely normal and should not be seen as a critical vote.
Ricochet – CSU boss Markus Söder is also coming and has two appearances, one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. That will be funny.
Merz gives two speeches
Talk – Friedrich Merz thinks two of them. One at the start, on Monday around 11:15 a.m., before he stands for election again as CDU leader. One can expect typical party conference rhetoric. The second speech follows on Wednesday, May 8th, on the occasion of Liberation Day. One can expect self-confident, statesmanlike rhetoric.
Debt brake – How much debt is good for the country? This question divides the Union, at least a little. Merz wants the CDU to stay on a tough course and leave no doubt that it cannot undertake a fundamental reform of the debt rules. Some prime ministers see things decidedly differently. Actually, that shouldn’t play a role at this party conference. Actually.
Thuringia – This state election remains the biggest strategic challenge for the CDU: What to do if it is not possible to form a government without the Left and the AfD? So far, no one in the party wants to discuss this question openly. We are fighting to become the strongest force in order to be able to form a government, that’s all they say. This is thin, very thin. But the party conference is unlikely to change anything about that – despite all the efforts of Daniel Günther, Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, to rethink the relationship with the left.
On Wednesday it’s about the European elections
Ukraine – The wars in Israel and Ukraine will determine the foreign policy moments of the party congress. Possibly also to be expected: criticism of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s China policy.
Von der Leyen – The President of the EU Commission is a member of the CDU. You can forget about that. Many Christian Democrats themselves would like to forget that from time to time. Ursula von der Leyen is coming, giving a speech on Wednesday, and should be appropriately praised and celebrated.
Wild – NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst gives the loyal soul from Münsterland before the party conference: “Friedrich Merz has given the CDU stability again after losing the federal election,” Wüst told “Welt am Sonntag”. Another sovereign with a W, who likes to be critical of Merz, has to remain well-behaved for reasons of hosting alone: Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner. But, maybe, maybe the MPs have the courage to do something: see the debt brake.
X (formerly Twitter) – Is probably still the most popular platform for opinionated Christian Democrats. But: The CDU is also on TikTok.
Youngsters – Philipp Amthor, the Mini-Merz from Western Pomerania, becomes the CDU’s new membership representative. The 31-year-old has recently been the secret star of the regional conferences on the basic program.
Central Committee – The stage design at the party conference should be more modern than at all others, younger and fresher. That’s why the CDU has decided that the entire party leadership will no longer sit on the stage behind name tags. In other words: The Central Committee did not survive the Merz reunification.