The leader of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), Marcus Söder, on Sunday (04.04.20219) urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to intervene in the election of the conservative candidate for the general election, a question that remains open, six months after the election date. The election. “The elections to run for the chancellery must be in close agreement with Angela Merkel,” Söder points out, in statements to the Bild newspaper on Sunday.
“Because it must be a joint election campaign with the chancellor,” continues Söder, “a union candidate cannot succeed without Angela Merkel’s support.” The Bavarian leader is credited with this appointment, which should arise from consensus between the CSU and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party that Merkel chaired between 2000 and 2018. Elections are expected to take place in the next few weeks. This week, centrist Christian Democratic Union leader Armin Laschet began campaigning for his party, making clear his determination to be the candidate.
However, from the conservative ranks, other options are being explored, given Laché’s unpopularity and fear of an electoral collapse like the one the CDU suffered in regional elections last March, as it remained at its lowest historical levels. The conservative bloc’s intent is expected to be 27%, four points lower than last month and five points above its immediate followers, the Greens, by leaps and bounds. “But we saw how quickly opinion polls could change,” said Julia Kluckner, vice president of the CDU, the Funk Media Group.
Soder, more to the right than the leader of the CDU, is appreciated by his countrymen better – 56% prefer him as an advisor, compared to 19% of those who speak for Lachette, according to a poll by the public TV channel ARD. The weekly Der Spiegel reports that many CDU lawmakers support the head of the conservative group in the Bundestag (the Federal Parliament), Ralph Brinkhaus, as an alternative. (efe / dpa)
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Merkel and the champions of the Christian Democratic Union
Konrad Adenauer, CDU President from 1950 to 1966
When Konrad Adenauer was elected president of the CDU, he was already a chancellor. The former mayor of Cologne helped greatly in building the Christian Democratic Union in Germany. The concentration of party leadership and chancellery in one person was maintained by other successors. Merkel has always been in favor of having one person running the chancellery and the party.
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Merkel and the champions of the Christian Democratic Union
1966: Ludwig Erhard, advisor to Konrad Adenauer
For 16 years, Konrad Adenauer, the first president and co-founder of the CDU, left his own mark on the party. When he handed over the leadership of the party to Ludwig Erhard on March 23, 1966, “the father of the German economic miracle” was chancellor for two and a half years. Given Adenauer’s various machinations against his successor, the relationship between the two was complex.
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Merkel and the champions of the Christian Democratic Union
Chancellery and Presidency of the Christian Democratic Union and the Grand Alliance
After Erhard lost support in the CDU / CSU, Kurt-Georg Kiesinger became chancellor in 1966, and then in 1967, he was elected president of CDU. He was the first to lead the party and governed a grand coalition with the Social Democratic Party. At the end of the experiment, the CDU / CSU became part of the opposition, after the 1969 general election.
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Merkel and the champions of the Christian Democratic Union
Rainer Brzel 1971-1977
Kiesinger was CDU President until 1971. Rainer Barzel then became the new party chair. In 1972, he attempted, through the Blame Movement against Chancellor Willie Brandt, to become an advisor. However, the CDU lacked two voices for change.
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Merkel and the champions of the Christian Democratic Union
1973: The beginning of a new era
Berzel did not fully recover from the failure of the censure proposal against Brandt: in 1973 he resigned as party president. At the subsequent party conference, a young Christian Democratic Union politician in Rhineland-Palatinate stepped forward as his successor: Helmut Kohl, who called himself “Adenauer’s grandson.”
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Merkel and the champions of the Christian Democratic Union
The first president of the German CDU after 1989
Helmut Kohl, party leader elected in June 1973, led the fate of the Christian Democrats for a quarter of a century. Especially since his election as chancellor in 1982, he has led the party in paternalistic style. After 1990, known as the “Unification Chancellor”, he organized the merger of the CDU with the GDR and other democratic parties.
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Merkel and the champions of the Christian Democratic Union
Back time: Schwebel
The general election in 1998 was a bitter defeat: not only the end of the chancellery, but also the patriarch of the party; Helmut Kohl. In November, he appeared before a CDU meeting with his designated successor, Wolfgang Schäuble, and future CDU Secretary General Angela Merkel.
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Merkel and the champions of the Christian Democratic Union
Schaeuble resigned from his post
Wolfgang Schäuble, who is Cole’s son-in-law and adoptive heir, was ultimately caught in the whirlwind of illegal funding for CDU under Cole. Schaeuble resigned from his posts as head of the Union faction and president of the Christian Democratic Union. Angela Merkel was at the time the general secretary of the Christian Democratic Union.
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Merkel and the champions of the Christian Democratic Union
It all started in Essen
Schäuble was caught in the whirlwind of illegal CDU funding, which also contributed to Kohl’s downfall. After Schäuble’s withdrawal began a struggle for power. Angela Merkel won the presidential race, at the party convention in Essen in 2000, which had the support of the Christian Democratic Union and became the first woman to lead the party.
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Merkel and the champions of the Christian Democratic Union
It’s over after Hesse’s results
For more than 18 years, Angela Merkel has made her mark on the CDU. As a result of the party’s heavy losses in the Hesse state elections, he has now announced that he will not run for the presidency of the CDU and will not aspire to become a chancellor again after 2021.
Author: Sven Tunings
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