2024-09-23 17:04:32
Friedrich Merz will probably be the Union’s candidate for chancellor. Hendrik Wüst has announced that he will not be running, but will support Merz. According to t-online information, Söder is also said to be in the know – partially.
NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) is currently not available to be the Union’s candidate for chancellor in the 2025 federal election. Wüst explained this in a statement after a board meeting of the NRW CDU in Düsseldorf.
He has received a lot of support in recent months and has thought intensively about his future role in politics. “A prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia is always a possible candidate for chancellor. You should never say never.” But he himself does not see his journey in NRW as over yet.
He therefore came to the conclusion: “I am not currently available to run for chancellor.” He therefore asked the state executive committee of the North Rhine-Westphalian CDU to support the federal chairman Friedrich Merz. “Friedrich Merz is one of us, he is deeply rooted in the Sauerland.”
In his speech, Wüst also lashed out at the traffic light government, saying it was the worst government in the 75-year history of the Federal Republic of Germany. He now wants to help ensure that the traffic light coalition is replaced by a government capable of taking action.
As the news portal t-online learned from party circles, chairman Friedrich Merz is said to have contacted the CDU state chairmen on Sunday and informed them of his planned candidacy. A timetable is also said to have been discussed with CSU chairman Markus Söder. However, it is unclear whether the Bavarian knew about Wüst’s statement in advance.
In his speech, Wüst also called on the sister party CSU to support Merz’s candidacy because “that would enormously increase the Union’s joint electoral chances.”
According to t-online information, both have agreed to propose Merz to their committees on Monday, September 23, one day after the state elections in Brandenburg.
Merz had repeatedly stressed that the decision on the Union’s candidate for chancellor would be made in late summer, after the three state elections in the east. However, there had been increasing signs for some time that Merz would ultimately prevail, even though Söder had recently repeatedly declared his willingness to run.
Before Wüst, numerous other Union politicians had already spoken out in favor of Merz, including deputy parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn.