Union after election debacle: Laschet continues to advertise Jamaica

CDU boss Armin Laschet is sticking to exploratory talks with the Greens and the FDP. “Neither party can derive a clear government mandate from this result,” he said. The aim is now to have conversations “on an equal footing”.

Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet is still striving to explore the formation of a new government despite the drastic losses in the federal election. The CDU federal executive board agreed that “we are ready for talks about a Jamaica coalition”.

“Neither party can derive a clear government mandate from this result,” said Laschet. This also applies to the Union, which is ready to take on government responsibility. The two people’s parties, the Union and the SPD, should now appear “with humility” in front of the voters.

A coalition is “not a forced marriage”, a coalition “must be a political project where everyone has the will and the desire to shape something positive for the country.” The Federal Chancellor will be the person who has a majority in the German Bundestag, said Laschet. Chancellor can only be “who succeeds in combining opposites”. An alliance of the Union, the Greens and the FDP depicts a “social breadth”.

Kretschmer: No government claim

Previously, some top politicians in the Union had taken Laschet to court. The Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer is one of his sharpest critics. He interprets the election failure of his party to mean that there is no government mandate for the Union. “I see a clear will of the electorate, which has made it clear: The Union is not the first choice this time,” said Kretschmer MDR. The election result was an earthquake and showed a clear change in mood against the CDU. You have to admit that very clearly. The attitude in the Adenauer House to speak of a government mandate is therefore not apparent to him.

CSU boss Markus Söder made a similar statement. He emphasized that after the crash in the Bundestag election, the Union could not lay claim to governance. The Union had landed in second place and not one, there was no entitlement to governance – but an offer for talks, said Söder, according to participants in a CSU board meeting in the morning in Munich.

Displeasure in the CSU

Clear displeasure could also be heard from other parts of the sister party. State group leader Alexander Dobrindt said in the board meeting, according to participants, that the CDU had weaknesses in terms of course, campaign and candidates. Bavaria’s Junge Union boss Christian Doleschal therefore emphasized that one must honestly analyze that the Union did not win this election. The candidate should be mentioned first: he took every faux pas with him up to election day.

Brinkhaus wants to remain chairman of the parliamentary group

Nevertheless, the party wants to hold on to Laschet, reports several media. Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus also wants to be re-elected on Tuesday in the constituent session of the new and shrunken parliamentary group. “I would like to remain chairman of the parliamentary group,” said Brinkhaus, who is also betting on a possible government with the Greens and the FDP. According to Union circles, it was unclear whether opposing candidates would run in the parliamentary group on Tuesday.

The media had previously reported that Laschet should have proposed postponing the election for parliamentary group chairmanship. Brinkhaus would then have continued the office on a provisional basis. The background is that Laschet wants to have the post for himself in order to be stronger in possible coalition talks.