Mario Czaja has been a member of the CDU Bundestag since September, as a direct candidate for Marzahn-Hellersdorf. The conversation with the Berliner Zeitung takes place in his constituency office in Mahlsdorf, which is decorated for Advent. Czaja may become the next general secretary of his party. In an interview, he explains why he is of the opinion that this is also good for Marzahn-Hellersdorf.
Mr Czaja, it was a surprise that Friedrich Merz named you as Secretary General if he were to become CDU Chairman. How well do you know yourself?
Friedrich Merz and I have known each other for a long time. He was here in the district when he was still the parliamentary group leader, in the 1990s. We kept exchanging ideas at irregular intervals about the state of the CDU and our view of things, of the country.
Don’t you belong to a completely different camp within the CDU than Merz?
We do not have the same socialization, and we also have different views on individual content-related issues. But we are united by the fact that we want to shape politics on the basis of the values of the CDU, that we both believe in powerful popular parties that are less and less in Europe. We both want to keep the CDU as a people’s party.
Merz wants to bring together different opinions
What do you see as the greatest advantage of Merz in the race for the chairmanship?
His personnel offer is the greatest integration offer to the party because it depicts the east, north, west and south of the country and at the same time unites different currents in his team. For him, it’s not about having a young Friedrich Merz general secretary next to him. We spoke on the phone every now and then during the last election campaign. And we talked about the situation of the CDU after the election, which led him to ask me if I could imagine being Secretary General in his team. On the premise that there is also a deputy general secretary. I thought it was a good constellation and after a bit of thinking about it, I said yes.
Why did Merz ask you?
It was important to him that we bring together different opinions that have a place within the CDU. It was important to him that we make an all-German offer in terms of personnel and that social and health policy also play a role. And it was important to him that we should be able to campaign relatively quickly and keep an eye on the upcoming state elections as well as activating the party base.
Close to the local people in Marzahn-Hellersdorf
Are you more capable of campaigning than others because you managed your election campaign in Marzahn-Hellersdorf yourself?
Doing politics in Marzahn-Hellersdorf is not a question of an election style for me. It is a political style with which we have been very close to the local people for many years – and we are not initially looking for party-political disputes, but for solutions to problems. Success in a difficult environment was certainly one of the reasons why Merz asked me if I would like to join his team.
Your own national association also seems to be a difficult environment for you. On the CDU state list before the federal election, Claudia Pechstein was given better consideration than you, the former health senator.
When I ran for the Bundestag, I did not rely on the fact that I would be covered by a state list. Even after 20 years, I know the Berlin CDU that well. Rather, I understood my candidacy on the state list as an offer. The party congress then decided differently. That is democratic and therefore acceptable. I then told the voters in my constituency that they would now decide whether I should represent them in the Bundestag and not delegates at a CDU party congress.
Are you amazed that the Berlin CDU is still so westernized?
My personal offer and my statements on it were relatively clear. In any case, the voters were one step further and ensured that, for the first time, there was a member of the Union parliamentary group from Berlin who won his constituency in the eastern part of the city. This is a great opportunity, but also a great responsibility to meet the expectations of the many voters in the district over the next four years.
Candidates from the CDU in the east of Berlin also did well in the House of Representatives election.
Yes, that is a particular success that the CDU had in the east, in the north of Pankow with Johannes Kraft, with Martin Pätzold and Danny Freymark in Hohenschönhausen and here too Katharina Günther-Wünsch, Christian Gräff and Alexander Herrmann won their constituencies directly . I have the impression that this success is being perceived and received in the Berlin CDU. There are now two parliamentarians from the eastern part of the city, Dirk Stettner and Danny Freymark, who sit on the CDU parliamentary group executive in the House of Representatives. Let me put it this way: the voters have given the Union a push to think in a more pan-German, more-Berlin way.
They are all men of the same age and biography as you. Are you forming a network there?
So, first of all, it’s not just men. There is also Katharina Günther-Wünsch, a strong woman who won in Kaulsdorf-Mahlsdorf. Second, we have all known each other for a long time and share experiences in our constituencies. It’s a similar style of politics that we have. We learn from each other. And we have thematic overlaps. Think of the topic of the Ahrensfelde bypass or the tangential connection east. All of these traffic development issues are similar issues in the south-east and north-east of Berlin. We work closely with the citizens’ initiatives, with the associations, in order to solve the problems there. And we are all experiencing a left-wing party that used to be actively anchored in local politics and is now experiencing a generational upheaval.
What do you mean?
There was and is a generation change from the old, more pragmatic left to the young “revolutionaries” with an almost exclusive inner city orientation. If you look at the fact that I won the first votes in Marzahn-Hellersdorf in all areas with strong housing cooperatives, you will see that up to now that was the heartland of the left. And why is there this change? Because the voters say that the education policy, the rent policy, the transport policy supported by today’s left in Berlin have nothing to do with our concerns and assessments on the eastern edge of the city.
Do you want to raise the issues you mentioned at the federal level as well?
It is essential for our acceptance and our success that we have to stay close to the real concerns and needs of the citizens and develop proposals for solutions. But they are different in rural areas in Thuringia than in Berlin on the outskirts. And these communal issues are only a part of what plays a role in the federal government. Federal policy is also about security and foreign policy issues, about our role in Europe.
Because you mention Thuringia: Even at the federal level, East and West do not always agree in your party. Do you want the CDU to be stronger?
I don’t have the impression at all that we are in a dispute between East and West within the CDU. I have the impression that the members and perhaps many of our voters would like us to take a clearer course. You want to understand again: What does the Union stand for? We did not provide convincing answers to some sociopolitical questions in this election campaign. For example, on the future of the social security systems, on solutions for child poverty or on the housing issue in metropolitan areas.
Why do many voters no longer know what the Union stands for?
It is in the nature of things that in a coalition the compromise is often anticipated. The very calm and balanced management style of Chancellor Angela Merkel also meant that the clear line of the Union was not always recognized before the discussion, before a compromise was found. Because there was no clear edge before.
Would you have a clearer edge with you?
I don’t want to rule that out. But there is also the fact that you are not forced to compromise in the opposition. The opposition role now gives us the freedom to offer the people pure CDU.
Friedrich Merz is applying for the party chairmanship for the third time. Last time he said: Sure, I’m for the team as long as I’m the boss. Now he introduced himself and you with the words: We are the team. What happened?
Each of us is evolving. It would be bad if it weren’t for that. It was also one of the reasons I liked to say that I would be part of his team. I feel that he is determined to look for a team solution and offer the party a wide range of integration options. Almost 8,000 new members joined the CDU through the member survey alone. This shows that many have confidence that we can succeed in turning members into decision-makers. Incidentally, this member survey will not remain a flash in the pan if Friedrich Merz is elected party chairman. In the future, too, we will directly involve the members when it comes to essential content-related or personal issues.
Merz is well received in the east. In your opinion, why is that?
Because Friedrich Merz speaks a clear language. And because the economic strengthening of the new federal states has always been an important concern for him. He has been on the road a lot there in recent years. Even when he was not chairman of the parliamentary group. In Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, he thought about how locations could be revitalized and regions strengthened.
If you become General Secretary, can you still stand up for Marzahn-Hellersdorf in the Bundestag?
Before I took on the task in Friedrich Merz’s team, I had to weigh up the following: Does that hinder my work for the constituency? And as a result I say: no. That complements each other well. We need someone in the federal government who can talk to those responsible about the urgent infrastructure projects on an equal footing. In the role of Secretary General you are certainly no weaker.
More than 80 general practitioner offices are vacant on the eastern outskirts
What do you want to achieve specifically for the district?
We have the largest commercial and industrial area in Berlin that calls for development. In Marzahn – similar to Adlershof and Buch – we absolutely need a scientific, university core as a lighthouse, around which other companies will then also settle. To do this, you have to talk to those responsible in the federal government. What research institution could there be? If something comes to Berlin, we want it to be in Marzahn. At this location, the Clean Tech Business Park, into which a lot of federal funding has already flowed. In addition, there is the problem of medical care for the people here, which is as big here on the outskirts as it is in rural areas. The general practitioner is absent too often. We have more than 80 general practitioner offices on the eastern outskirts of Berlin that are currently unoccupied. Finding solutions here is important.
Do you think you will be heard? As a newcomer and in the opposition?
Anyone who has won their constituency directly will not sit in the very last row in the German Bundestag. Of course, if you don’t rule, it’s harder. But I’m known for being able to build cross-party alliances. In this respect, I believe that you can talk to those responsible in the new government about the challenges on the eastern outskirts of Berlin.
You won in Marzahn-Hellersdorf without emphasizing your party membership. The CDU logo was hardly to be found on your posters either.
Political trust is won or lost by people. And I think everyone here knows that I stand for the CDU. By the way, there was a CDU logo on all of my posters. I didn’t leave it out like Gregor Gysi. But it is correct that we have also won a lot of trust and approval from people who would otherwise not vote for the CDU.
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