Party congress: Söder relies on CSU pure

A year before the state elections in Bavaria, there is a certain relief at the CSU party conference. Party leader Söder has positioned himself clearly. There should be no coalition with the Greens, the given course: strictly conservative.

“We are leaders again” – this is how Markus Söder summarizes the situation of the CSU. The party leader is already telling the story for the state election campaign: In Berlin the traffic lights rule and with them chaos – in Bavaria the CSU rule and with it stability.

One year before the state elections, unity is the order of the day. In the CSU and with the sister party. Friedrich Merz also emphasizes this unity – and demonstratively praises the CSU for good government work in Bavaria.

Nevertheless, the party is still mostly under 40 percent in the polls. In view of the poor performance of the traffic light, it should actually be much better, many at the base also think.

Voters expect alternatives to the traffic light policy

But the CSU, like the CDU in the federal government, suffers from two problems. Firstly, it cannot plausibly explain away its part in the current problems. Delegates say: Locally one hears again and again: “But you ruled for 16 years”. The CSU has not yet found an answer to this.

Secondly, criticism alone is not enough. Conservative voters don’t really like arguments. And they expect the Union parties to come up with real alternatives to the traffic light policy, both short-term and long-term.

A challenge for Markus Söder, who likes to describe himself as a “long-distance swimmer”, but still doesn’t miss a quick headline if possible.

Söder clearly relies on the regular voters

With the Bavarian high-tech agenda, Söder could score points in the long term. But that won’t help in the short term if the baker can no longer pay for his gas. That’s why Söder is already building ahead. He paints a bleak picture of everything that can happen – and if something goes wrong with the energy supply in winter, the traffic lights are clearly to blame.

There is a certain relief in the CSU that Söder is now clearly positioned – no coalition with the Greens, strictly conservative course. Söder clearly relies on the regular voters, on rural areas, on green bashing, on CSU pure.

In 2023 there will be a camp election campaign in Bavaria. If Söder emerges from this as a glorious winner, his federal political ambitions could come back to him. The demonstrative unity with Friedrich Merz could then quickly be over.