Status: 09/28/2021 3:46 p.m.
In the Union, after the severe election defeat, the pressure on CDU boss Laschet is growing. There could be a first test of strength in the parliamentary group today: Will there be an election against Laschet’s will?
Starting position
Two days after their defeat in the Bundestag election, it dawns on many in the Union that it is very difficult to read a government mandate from this election result. That was different in the first moment of shock on Sunday evening. “We have no claim to government responsibility,” says CDU Vice-President Volker Bouffier. The clear mandate lies with the SPD, Greens and FDP, said JU boss Tilman Kuban.
After 16 years in power, the Union is threatened with opposition. Or?
The failed chancellor candidate Armin Laschet still clings to the vague hope of the Chancellery – with an alliance of the Greens and the FDP. If the SPD fails with its traffic light efforts. However, resistance to this strategy is growing. Now is the first internal party test of strength: In the parliamentary group, one of the power centers of the Union. In the evening, a new parliamentary group leader is to be elected – if the Union goes into opposition, this would also be the future opposition leader and thus the most powerful post that is currently available.
The main characters
Armin Laschet: The CDU party leader and ex-chancellor candidate wants an interim solution. According to this, Ralph Brinkhaus is said to be parliamentary group leader “in the phase of these coalition negotiations”. Accordingly, Brinkhaus should remain in office until the constituent session of the Bundestag on October 26th. Laschet himself said he did not want to run for office. If, however, his idea of a temporary solution cannot prevail today, it would be an internal defeat – and thus a further weakening of the party chairman. Not a good basis for someone who would still like to somehow negotiate a government with the Greens and the FDP.
Ralph Brinkhaus: The parliamentary group leader of the CDU and CSU wants to run again for this office – as usual for a whole year. He rejected Laschet’s proposed interim solution. Brinkhaus has been leading the Union faction since 2018 after he prevailed in a surprising fight candidate against Merkel’s henchman Volker Kauder. Brinkhaus has established a strong position in the parliamentary group and made it one of the Union’s centers of power again.
Markus Söder: The CSU boss plays a somewhat opaque role here. The CSU had “very good experiences” with Brinkhaus, he said in the ARD and added, “There are others, but that would be an option.” There may be a joint proposal from both party leaders. Söder pleaded for “clarity” to be created for the parliamentary group. “It might be very good if we have a clear line that this doesn’t just apply for a few days, but for longer.”
The newly elected CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt is still pressing for an election of the Union parliamentary group leader: “This is the week of decisions, both in terms of the course and the staff.” The CSU will be more strongly represented in the new Union parliamentary group than before.
Supporting actor with ambitions
Norbert Röttgen: The foreign politician and multiple failed applicants for the CDU chairmanship calls for an all-round renewal of the CDU. But not immediately, at least not when it comes to personnel issues. “We can’t set our own internal competition in motion parallel to negotiations about a government,” he told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. Therefore, he also spoke out against voting today on the chairmanship of the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag. Röttgen are subordinated to ambitions on the parliamentary group chairmanship. Looking at CDU leader Laschet, he said that he was the elected party leader and the joint candidate for chancellor. “These decisions are made until others are made.” He did not accept calls for resignation from Laschet.
Friedrich Merz: The CDU economic politician has already made a comeback: He is returning to the Bundestag. He confidently won the mandate in the Hochsauerlandkreis. So far, he has left it open whether he has ambitions for the office of parliamentary group leader of the Union. Now is not the time for staff discussions. Merz was a parliamentary group leader until he was ousted by Angela Merkel in 2002. He would also have liked to become party leader – but he failed against Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and against Laschet.
Jens Spahn: The CDU politician was once one of the young hopes of the conservatives in the Union. At 41, Spahn is still comparatively young, but as health minister in the corona pandemic, he did not always do a good job. In the federal election campaign, he chained himself to the Laschet team. After the negative record in the election, the CDU presidium member called for a rejuvenation of the party leadership in “Spiegel”. As examples for younger politicians, Spahn named the Prime Ministers Tobias Hans in Saarland and Günther in Schleswig-Holstein. He also highlights the economic politician Carsten Linnemann and the CDU vice-president Silvia Breher. If today or later there are opposing candidates in the fight for the parliamentary group chairmanship, Spahn’s name keeps coming up.
Carsten Linnemann: The 43-year-old CDU middle-class politician has so far been vice-president of the Union parliamentary group. With a lot of tailwind he is going into the next four years in the Bundestag: Linnemann got the best first vote result in NRW: 47.9 percent in the constituency Paderborn – Gütersloh III. His name is also mentioned when it comes to replacing the top of the parliamentary group.
The fronts
In the Union faction there have been violent power struggles – most recently in April of this year, when Söder and Laschet were fighting for the candidacy for chancellor. The CSU man won the spin following this memorable session.
There could be a crucial test today, albeit with a different front line, if a compromise is not found. The frustration with Laschet could discharge, so the fear.
There are strong voices in the parliamentary group who want clarity in the parliamentary group immediately – and support Brinkhaus. According to information from the German Press Agency, Brinkhaus received clear support for his goal of being confirmed for a full year from a group of around a dozen Union members who have been in parliament since 2017 (group 17). After all, Brinkhaus was not responsible for the poor performance of the CDU at the federal level, it was argued.
Others in the CDU are also calling for a personnel renewal at the party leadership, but only for later. Economics Minister Peter Altmaier and Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther want the party to reposition itself in terms of content and personnel – if talks about participation in the government fail.
Who is there?
The Union parliamentary group has shrunk from 246 to 196 members. And yet it should be an unusually large group meeting. Because in the first parliamentary group meeting after an election, not only the new Bundestag members of the CDU take part, but also those of the previous legislature. However, they are not entitled to vote. However, the influence of the CSU has probably increased. The regional group has only one fewer MPs (45) than at the beginning of the previous legislative period.