The election is lost – and the Union only has an exploratory straw to form a Jamaica coalition with the FDP and the Greens. But it is not just the latest polls that give the party little cause for hope – the mood swings within the party are also worrying.
Now the next CDU politician is settling accounts with his party: Friedrich Merz (65). He criticized the newspapers of the Funke media group: “The Union has forgotten how to work thematically.”
The CDU was also “lazy to think”. Merz complains that the CDU has given up a lot of profile and content in the long years of government responsibility and instead relied on the apparatus of the government.
He himself had “twice applied as party chairman in order to re-orient the party in terms of content and strategy,” but failed. On the subject of applications, he told the Funke newspapers: “My need for controversial votes against the establishment is covered.”
With a view to the election campaign of the CDU, Merz criticized that “the headlines, the topics and the media strategy” were missing. In addition, there was “a candidate with very low approval ratings in the population” with CDU leader Armin Laschet. “An election victory would have been a minor miracle.”
Nevertheless, Merz continued to stand behind Laschet for the time being. He limited, however, that this only applies as long as he “has a chance to do his job”.
Orange juice escalation with Brinkhaus
Merz’s statements show that internal pressure is increasing more and more. How much it simmers behind the scenes is also described by “Spiegel” in its current issue. During the week, the whole Merz anger should have discharged in the dispute over the parliamentary group chairmanship. There was supposedly a scandal between Merz and the parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus before his re-election.
Merz is said to have accused Brinkhaus of harming the party with his plan to be re-elected. In the confidential conversation on Tuesday he is said to have said that the Union had bigger problems than dealing with the re-election of Brinkhaus for days. When Brinkhaus reacted just as emotionally, Merz is said to have popped a filled orange juice glass on the table.
As is well known, the Zoff did not harm Brinkhaus – he was confirmed as parliamentary leader shortly afterwards with 85 percent of the vote.
AKK: “Show your attitude”
In the midst of the disagreements, the former party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (59) warned to prepare for possible opposition work. In the MDR, she referred to the option of “taking a stand and making a good opposition”.
“I have the feeling that we are in a very, very difficult situation,” said Kramp-Karrenbauer. She warned her party against focusing too much on possible government participation: “Democracy always provides for both: government and opposition.” Participation in government should be decided by the content “and not the question of who would like to become what”.
Party leader and chancellor candidate Armin Laschet (60) is trying to establish a Jamaica coalition to move into the chancellery. The explorations with the FDP (Sunday evening) and the Greens (Tuesday morning) should be decisive for this.
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