Next reorganization
Philipp Amthor is now involved in state politics – office in the MV-CDU
April 13, 2024, 3:11 p.m
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Once again, the CDU in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is reorganizing itself – and is hoping for a prominent name. The Bundestag member Amthor is to take over the attack department alongside the new state leader Peters. For him it is the second attempt in state politics.
The CDU in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has elected its fourth chairman in just over four years and has appointed Philipp Amthor, a member of the Bundestag, to support him. The 31-year-old lawyer was elected general secretary of the regional association at the party conference in Rostock with almost 94 percent. Amthor follows Daniel Peters, who was previously named the new state leader of the CDU – also with almost 94 percent. The Rostock resident had already announced that he would also be available for his party’s top candidacy in the 2026 state elections. Amthor was Peters’ preferred candidate.
The 42-year-old from Rostock is the successor to Franz-Robert Liskow, who did not run again after two years in office. He had no opponent. The studied political scientist has been a member of the state parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania since 2020. Before that, he worked for ten years as a consultant to the Union parliamentary group’s budget expert, Eckhardt Rehberg.
Daniel Peters is aiming for the Schwerin State Chancellery as CDU leader in MV.
(Photo: dpa)
Peters spoke of a starting signal. He is running so that the CDU can win elections again in the future and beat the SPD, “both in the local and European elections, the federal election and yes, also in the state election in 2026.” He accused the red-red government of paralyzing the country. “Women’s Day as a public holiday, rainbow flags in front of town halls and a voting age of 16 – that’s it with the government program. That’s not enough.” The CDU is in opposition in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which is governed by the red-red coalition.
“If you don’t distance yourself from extremists, you’re no better”
Amthor said the goal should be to replace the red-red government in Schwerin and the traffic lights in Berlin. He also sees it as his job to defend the CDU against its political opponents. Amthor drew a clear dividing line from the AfD. One should not indulge in illusions. “Viewed in light, the AfD wants a different country.” This also includes breaking with the constitution. “If you don’t distance yourself from extremists, you’re no better than the extremists.”
The native of Ueckermünder has been sitting in the Bundestag since 2017, where he represents the Mecklenburg Lake District I – Vorpommern-Greifswald II constituency. Amthor had previously rejected a candidacy for state chairman, saying that he continued to see the focus of his political work in Berlin.
For Amthor, it is his first top office in the state party on his second attempt. In 2020 he declared his ambitions to become chairman of the state party and would therefore have been a challenger to Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig in the state elections a year later. But the then 27-year-old stumbled upon his previous lobbying work for a New York startup.
In the state elections in September 2021, the CDU in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania achieved its worst result since 1990 with 13.3 percent of the vote. It entered the state parliament as the third strongest force after the SPD and AfD. Current surveys see the CDU with around 18 percent, just behind Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig’s SPD and well behind the AfD, which recently got 31 percent. The next state election will take place regularly in autumn 2026.