Renewal of the CDU: a new generation is needed

The CDU has decided to re-elect its board of directors. That’s right, but not nearly enough. It is crucial that the generation change in the party is also visible.

Of course, the CDU has to re-elect its federal executive board. But that only works if the old one really works. That sounds banal, but it isn’t. Because who guarantees that not many of the ancestors, who are massively responsible for the debacle of the CDU in the federal election, will not run again?

The CDU needs a visible generation change, and that means that in the next few days and weeks the generation of the Schäubles, Strobls and Bouffiers should clearly say: “We will no longer belong to the top bodies in the future.” It is a shame for the CDU that party leader Armin Laschet is not a role model in this regard.

No back doors

His withdrawal announcement with a back door in the past week was exactly what the CDU does not need now. Laschet is probably not the only one who has not yet given up hope of a Jamaica coalition and is therefore playing for time.

Even in the unlikely event that the Union still plays a role in the formation of a government: there is no avoiding a generation change, and that also applies to the future CDU chairman. So: No more men from North Rhine-Westphalia who did not get a majority at the beginning of the year and who had their political heyday around the turn of the millennium (Friedrich Merz) or around 2010 (Norbert Röttgen).

There is no such thing as the ideal candidate

The sooner they give up, the sooner the search for a young, new boss can begin, who will renew the CDU internally and externally. Who is that supposed to be? Jens Spahn maybe, Daniel Günther (who doesn’t want to) from Schleswig-Holstein, Tobias Hans from Saarland or Michael Kretschmer from Saxony? It is easy to find arguments against any of these candidates. There is no ideal candidate (logical, otherwise he would have become a candidate for chancellor), but all four are comparatively young, have government experience and could realign the CDU in terms of content.

Incidentally, the fact that we are only talking about male candidates is also part of the problem. It is crucial that the CDU elect its new party leader quickly. On the one hand, because it has to pass three state elections in March and May (and three state chancelleries to defend). On the other hand, because the CDU under new leadership should clarify as soon as possible what conservative politics should be in the 2020s. As the largest opposition party, your aim must be to offer an alternative to a traffic light coalition.

Because even if the SPD, the Greens and the FDP agree on a coalition: The chance that the three parties, many voters or all of them will get fed up with the traffic lights sooner rather than later is not so small from the Union’s point of view. By then at the latest, the CDU should know who it is and what it wants.