2024-09-22 23:20:24
In late summer, Friedrich Merz and Markus Söder wanted to decide the K question. Now they have called a press conference.
In the final sprint for the Union’s candidacy for chancellor, CDU chairman Friedrich Merz and CSU leader Markus Söder are holding a joint press conference in Berlin. This is to take place on Tuesday at 12 noon in the Bavarian representation, as the CSU regional group announced this morning. They are expected to announce the decision on the candidacy for chancellor there. The two opponents are currently said to be holding a one-on-one meeting, reports “Bild”.
It is also now generally expected that the Union will go into the next federal election with Merz at the helm. However, the final decision will have to be made by the Union’s party committees. Söder and Merz have repeatedly announced that they will make a decision on the Union’s K question in late summer and make a joint proposal to the parties.
Most recently, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst announced on Monday evening that he was not currently available to run for chancellor. At the same time, Wüst, who heads the CDU’s largest regional association, pledged his support to Merz.
The North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister’s public support for CDU leader Friedrich Merz as the Union’s candidate for chancellor has been received with caution by the CSU. The CSU parliamentary group leader in the Bavarian state parliament, Klaus Holetschek, told the “Bild” newspaper that “there has been no decision at all yet on the question of the chancellor candidacy. As long as nothing has been decided, nothing has been decided.”
Merz announced on Sunday that a clarification on the candidacy for chancellor would be made soon. When asked whether his decision had been made in this context, he said on ZDF: “Soon.” He and Söder would make a proposal, and the party executives of the CDU and CSU would then deal with it.
Next Monday, after the state elections in Brandenburg on Sunday, the CDU and CSU will hold regular committee meetings. This would also be an opportunity for the party leaders to discuss the question of the chancellor candidate.
The CDU chairman usually has first access to the CDU and CSU’s candidacy for chancellor. However, after the state elections in Saxony and Thuringia on September 1, CSU leader Söder repeatedly reiterated that he was also available for this.
Before the 2021 federal election, there was a power struggle between Söder and the then CDU chairman Armin Laschet over the K question, which Laschet ultimately won. However, Söder had repeatedly burdened Laschet’s election campaign with public taunts. In the end, the Union lost the federal election.