The foreign politician Norbert Röttgen wants to run for the federal chairmanship of the CDU. Röttgen had a press conference announced on Thursday for Friday morning on the subject of “candidacy for the chairmanship of the CDU in Germany”. On Wednesday it became known that the acting minister of the Chancellery, Helge Braun, would also run for office. He wants to be nominated by his home association Gießen. At a virtual meeting of the Hessian CDU state executive on Friday, he will explain the reasons for his application, said a spokesman for the state CDU. Braun is said to have the support of Hesse’s Prime Minister Volker Bouffier.
Another possible candidate is financial expert Friedrich Merz. The still incumbent Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn has already announced that he will not run. (11/11/2021)
The coalition negotiations will continue on Monday
The coalition negotiations between the SPD, Greens and FDP will enter the next round on Monday. Then the 21-strong negotiating group of the three parties will meet again and talk about the results of the thematic working groups. As the SPD and FDP announced on Thursday, the general secretaries are still on the train. Lars Klingbeil (SPD), Michael Kellner (Greens) and Volker Wissing (FDP) are in an exchange to bring together the 22 working papers.
Little is known about the results of the working groups, which were submitted on Wednesday evening. Several groups could not agree on all points and passed a number of important open questions to the main negotiators. There has been progress in areas such as climate, finance, transport and foreign and defense policy, but the papers of the working groups have brackets – that means that there is still no agreement on the points, as the dpa reported on Wednesday evening.
The party leaderships had given the working groups very detailed guidelines on how to deliver their results: the small groups up to three pages, the large groups up to five, font size 11, Calibri, line spacing 1.5. The individual results should be brought together in the coming days before work on the still open points begins.
At the beginning of the coalition negotiations it was said that the main round of negotiations should conclude the deliberations by the end of November. The previous Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is to be elected Federal Chancellor in St. Nicholas Week from December 6th. He expressed his satisfaction with the status of the coalition negotiations: “My confidence is actually there all the time, and it’s getting better and better,” says Scholz, referring to the schedule. “The three parties are pretty good together.” The feedback from the working groups showed that “a lot of things came together”. The remaining differences are not so numerous that he considers them insurmountable. (11/11/2021)
Greens deny report on alleged waiver of the Treasury
Contrary to the presentation of a report published on Wednesday evening, the Greens do not want to leave the Ministry of Finance to the FDP in a possible traffic light government. “That is wrong. There is no renunciation of any ministry and no definition of who will do what,” said a spokesman for the party Süddeutsche Zeitung on demand.
Previously, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Reported contrary. Accordingly, the Greens should no longer insist on the important ministry. “The Ministry of Finance will not let the formation of the traffic light fail,” reports the FAZ, referring to green negotiating circles. According to the report, the responsible negotiators of the Greens have defined six ministries to which the party claims. This should include the Federal Foreign Office and the transport, agriculture, environment, family and transformation departments.
The Greens had always described the Ministry of Finance as a key ministry to also take control of the finances to advance the fight against global warming. It is believed that they are now sweetening the waiver of the Ministry of Finance with concessions from the SPD and, above all, the FDP on the subject of climate protection. (11/10/2021)
Klingbeil wants to keep his back free for a chancellor, Olaf Scholz
The designated SPD leader Lars Klingbeil wants to keep his back free for a chancellor Olaf Scholz. “One of the mistakes after the 1998 election victory was that a party chairman, Oskar Lafontaine, concentrated on making life difficult for a Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder. We will not repeat this mistake,” said Klingbeil Rheinische Post. In the past, as Secretary General, he had not always agreed with the candidate for Chancellor Scholz. However, this has always been clarified internally. “The times in which conflicts were carried out in public are over. I will do everything I can to ensure that it stays that way.”
Klingbeil left it open who the designated co-boss Saskia Esken and he would like to be General Secretary in the future. When asked whether he would ask ex-Juso boss Kevin Kühnert to take over the job, Klingbeil replied evasively: “We are on friendly terms. We sometimes have a different opinion on this matter – but we both want the same political style shape the party. ” (11/10/2021)
Esken is sticking to the schedule for coalition negotiations
The SPD chairwoman Saskia Esken has confirmed that she wants to stick to the schedule for the coalition negotiations. “It will definitely stick to our schedule. It is a very clear plan that we can elect Olaf Scholz as our Federal Chancellor during St. Nicholas Week and the preparatory work must be done by then,” said Esken in the ARD.
In the coalition negotiations between the SPD, Greens and FDP, 22 working groups are to work out their positions by Wednesday. Several Green politicians were dissatisfied with the progress made in the talks. Green parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt did not rule out the possibility that the coalition negotiations could take longer than planned. One tries very hard, she assured the ARD: “But the result counts and not the date.” (09/11/2021)
CDU Vice Stroble hopes for fewer changes at the top of the party
The CDU deputy head of the Bundestag, Thomas Strobl, hopes that the upcoming election of the new chairman will bring more peace to the party. “We will soon have the fourth person in the federal chairmanship for the fifth year, so continuity is needed again,” said the state party leader of Baden-Württemberg Heilbronn voice and the Südkurier. The new CDU leadership is to be elected at a party conference in January in Hanover.
“The most important task of the new chairman will be to bring the Union together and to integrate a wide variety of life experiences and interests,” said Strobl to the two papers. “Second, it must be made clear what the Union stands for in terms of content.” If a traffic light coalition soon rules in the federal government, the CDU will also have to do good opposition work. “The new federal chairman must ensure that the Union takes on the role of the opposition and fulfills it vigorously,” demanded the 61-year-old.
He himself no longer runs as federal vice. “Of course I will do everything to ensure that another deputy federal chairman comes from Baden-Württemberg,” announced Strobl. “We will be putting together the staff sheet with which the CDU Baden-Württemberg goes to the federal party congress in the next few weeks.” (09/11/2021)
Klingbeil criticizes Union for “party politics” in the pandemic
SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil has criticized the Union for its behavior in the current Corona situation. “People act as if they have nothing more to do with politics, they say goodbye to the role of the opposition,” he said on ZDF. Klingbeil could in future take over the chairmanship of the SPD together with Saskia Esken. He was happy, he said, “that we have managed to keep party politics out of this difficult pandemic response, and it is a pity that the Union is not making it at the moment”.
Union politicians had previously criticized the approach of the partners of a possible traffic light coalition in the pandemic. The acting Chancellery Minister Helge Braun (CDU) accused the SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz of blocking a federal-state meeting to coordinate the corona policy in order not to disrupt the ongoing coalition negotiations between the SPD and the Greens and the FDP. The Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU boss Markus Söder accused the possible traffic light coalition of ducking away from the tense Corona situation. (08.11.2021)