Candidates to replace Merkel as CDU head at first joint appearance
The three front-runners to replace German Chancellor Angela Merkel as leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) appeared on the same stage for the first time yesterday.
“I am looking forward to a fair contest,” CDU SecretaryGeneral Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said in a speech to the party’s women’s wing in Berlin.
Kramp-Karrenbauer, a close ally of Merkel, appeared at the event alongside Health Minister Jens Spahn and Friedrich Merz, both of whom have taken more critical views of the outgoing chancellor.
A former rising star of German conservative politics, Merz abandoned national political life in 2009 to take up his other career as a lawyer after losing in a CDU power struggle to Merkel.
Yesterday he did little to address criticism that he might be out of touch with current political problems due to his professional commitments.
“The world has changed, so too have I, but I will go into detail on that another time,” he said.
Spahn, who would likely pull the CDU further to the right, also said he is looking forward to the race, although he could withdraw early if his chances are looking too slim.
The three are due to appear at various regional party gatherings ahead of a national party conference in the northern port city of Hamburg where the new leader will be chosen on December 7.
Merkel decided to give up the reins of the party she has led since 2000 following humiliating results for her conservative bloc in regional elections and plummeting opinion poll ratings.
The most recent polls on CDU members have Kramp-Karrenbauer out in front on 35%, slightly ahead of Merz on 33%, with Spahn trailing way behind on just 7%.
Kramp-Karrenbauer called earlier yesterday for a new “style” in the party and a greater say for the grass roots, as CDU politicians seek to avoid the fate of their centre-left rivals, the Social Democrats, who were once a solid fixture in mainstream German politics but now are suffering badly in the polls.
CDU members expect that “at least the big, fundamental issues would first be taken up, discussed and decided in the party before they would be translated into government action”, she said on public radio.
Spahn said he expects a harmonious co-operation with Merkel in the event of his election.
Despite stepping down as party head, Merkel intends to serve out her fourth and final term as chancellor until 2021, before going into political retirement.
“I would work with her as chairman as trustfully as before. There’s no doubt about it, not with me and not with her,” Spahn told the Funke Media Group.