analysis
Before the CDU party conference in Berlin, the strategists set the course for personnel. The head of the workers’ wing and North Rhine-Westphalia’s social minister, Laumann, is likely to become the new federal deputy. He stands for completely different issues than CDU leader Merz.
Friedrich Merz and Karl-Josef Laumann both come from Westphalia, are Catholic, Christian Democrats and belong to the same generation. Merz will be 69 this year, Laumann 67. But otherwise, two Union politicians could hardly be more different. While Merz showed in short form with his famous tax return that beer mats are also good for theory, Laumann focuses on the practical side of the cardboard coaster.
During the Corona pandemic, the North Rhine-Westphalian Health Minister and a self-confessed shooting festival fan caused a lot of cheer when he advised people to cut back on private celebrations. He decided there was nothing wrong with beer. “You can be a little more careful with the liquor.” This meant he had the laughs on his side in serious times. A typical Laumann, straightforward and unorthodox.
Even if they are in the same party, the Sauerlander Merz and the Münsterlander Laumann stand for very different topics: Merz, the lawyer and businessman, Laumann, the machinist and social politician. Mittelstand Union (MIT) against Christian Democratic Workers’ Union (CDA). Blackrock versus IG Metall. Here sharp rhetoric, there a down-to-earth originality that is rarely found in German politics.
Laumann as the social conscience of the Union
Since Merz became party leader and Carsten Linnemann became general secretary, also from Westphalia and a member of the economic wing, plans have been developing in the CDU to elevate the social politician Laumann to the top of the party. One hears from the workers’ wing that this is the only way to make the breadth of the Union as a people’s party visible. Laumann is supposed to embody the social conscience of the party. Unlike Merz, he is trusted to close the social-political flank in the election campaign.
It is often heard that the Union has three roots: the conservative, the liberal and the Christian-social. According to some in the party, the latter is in danger of withering away. Laumann should fix that now. “Bumbling for the social cause” is how the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung once described his political style. On the social wing, where there is already a certain level of Merz skepticism, Laumann is believed to be able to score points where Merz is obviously struggling.
Laumann also enjoys a high reputation among the trade unions. “He is a reliable and loyal trade unionist,” says Anja Weber, DGB chairwoman in North Rhine-Westphalia, about him. We are in regular contact with him. “There are few of his ilk in the CDU.”
She attests that he has a good feel for social issues and is sure that Laumann will not see himself as just a fig leaf for social issues on the CDU board. With him, “the workers in the CDU get the importance that they deserve.”
The path is clear for Laumann
Before the party conference, social politician Laumann puts himself entirely at the service of the cause: “Merz is someone who has a plan for Germany,” he says. But Laumann also knows that the party talks openly about the chairman’s shortcomings. “It’s about winning swing voters for the Union,” he says confidently about his future role. “Good social policy gives people security, that’s what a CDU has to embody.” It goes without saying that he means this.
The path is clear for Laumann to be elected deputy federal chairman at the federal party conference. A jostling for the deputy position, which seemed temporary, has been cleared by the strategists. Ines Claus, leader of the CDU parliamentary group in the Hesse state parliament, is not running for office. Gitta Connemann from Lower Saxony, the federal chairwoman of the SME Union, is also not running.
Against the dominance of the Middle Class Union
In addition to Laumann, the previous vice-presidents and members of the Bundestag Silvia Breher (Lower Saxony) and Andreas Jung (Baden-Württemberg), as well as Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (Saxony) and State Minister Karin Prien (Schleswig-Holstein), will apply for the five deputy positions. Laumann would be the only one on the federal executive board who belongs to the workers’ wing; everyone else “pays their contributions to MIT,” as a CDA man says.
So far, the CDU has always attached great importance to ensuring that its leading figures come from as many corners of the republic as possible. They are a “federal party”. However, there is currently a surplus of personnel from North Rhine-Westphalia: Merz, Linnemann, Jens Spahn and Ina Scharrenbach, Laumann’s cabinet colleague in Düsseldorf, are members of the presidium, and Düsseldorf Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst is also part of the party leadership as an advisory member.
Instinct politician with a no-frills style
Nevertheless, Laumann can expect a good result. This is probably also because the angular Münsterländer is considered to be assertive. He publicly stands up to Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), for example, when it comes to the hospital reform that is controversial between the federal and state governments. He made the minimum wage palatable to his own party years ago, and he also contributed to the new basic program.
“Laumann is an instinctive politician,” says a leading Christian Democrat. One of the most striking features is certainly his straightforward language. Clear, direct, sometimes hearty. State-supporting speeches are alien to him. It is more important to him that people understand him than error-free grammar.
Sometimes Laumann’s style can amuse friends and opponents alike. Shortly before Christmas, he took the lectern in the Düsseldorf state parliament and wished the assembled plenary a happy holiday. To then add with mischievous joy: “I’m really happy that Jesus Christ was born. Because if he hadn’t been born, there would be no CDU.” The SPD also had to laugh.