As of: 09/28/2021 7:01 p.m.
The new chairman of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group is apparently to be elected for only six months. The aim: to defuse the dispute over the parliamentary group chairmanship. The only applicant is incumbent Brinkhaus.
The new chairman of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group should be loud ARD information initially only be elected for half a year and not, as usual, for a full year. CDU boss Armin Laschet and CSU chairman Markus Söder have proposed to the Union MPs that the previous parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus (CDU) be re-elected for six months, reports the dpa news agency, citing participants in the parliamentary group meeting.
The aim of this compromise is to defuse the dispute over the parliamentary group chairmanship. According to the dpa, Laschet said that this was a joint proposal by him and Söder. He was quoted as saying: “The fact that other candidates who can imagine this have consented is a strong sign of the togetherness that we need now.” Laschet received a lot of applause for these words, it said.
FOCUS: Kirsten Schwietzer, ARD Berlin, with assessments of the state of the Union
September 28, 2021 5:34 pm
Dobrindt calls for a quick election of the parliamentary group chairman
Before the beginning of the constituent meeting of the new CDU / CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, the previous parliamentary group leader Brinkhaus was the only applicant, according to the CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt. Further applications are still possible. He made it clear that, from the point of view of the CSU, the election of the parliamentary group chairman had to take place. “The parliamentary group must be able to act,” said Dobrindt. “We want order. And that means that we hold elections today.”
Brinkhaus said there had been several solutions with the timeframe and staffing. He himself is very interested in a “harmonious start”. It is good that a compromise has been found. “That also shows that we are capable of acting.” The CDU politician himself did not name the period of six months.
Speculation about the Brinkhaus election
Brinkhaus has been chairman of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag since September 2018. The parliamentary group chairman is usually elected for one year at the beginning of the legislative period. CDU boss Laschet did not want to commit to this period. It has therefore been speculated that Brinkhaus will initially only remain in office on a provisional basis. Combat candidates were not excluded either.
The background to this is the open question of whether the Union will go into the opposition or whether, despite the defeat in the federal election, it still has a chance to form a government with the FDP and the Greens. However, should a traffic light coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP come about, the parliamentary group leader would play a central role as opposition leader in the Bundestag.
“Laschet is a born negotiator”
The Union still has 196 seats in the new Bundestag; in the previous legislative period, the group ultimately had 245 parliamentarians. In the new parliament, 151 seats are allocated to the CDU and 45 to the CSU.
At the meeting of the shrunken Union faction, CDU boss Laschet now admitted his own mistakes in the election campaign. As the top candidate, he also made mistakes himself, Laschet said, according to the dpa news agency. He regrets it very much. And he wanted to apologize to those who were affected.
He continued to campaign for explorations with the Greens and the FDP, reported the Reuters news agency. “Those who voted for us say: Don’t give up on Jamaica so quickly,” he said. There are strong signals from the FDP in the direction of the Union.
According to the dpa, Brinkhaus said that the top candidate did not reach the voters. Previously, despite the severe defeat, he stood behind Laschet as negotiator in any talks about a Jamaica alliance with the Greens and the FDP. “Armin Laschet is the party leader of the CDU, which is why he is a born negotiator,” said Brinkhaus.