Wüst on the K question: No personnel debates at an inopportune time

Parties - Wüst on the K question: No personnel debates at an inopportune time

North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister-President Hendrik Wüst (CDU) has warned the CDU/CSU against premature debates about the candidacy for Chancellor. When asked whether he would not like to see CDU federal chairman Friedrich Merz as the candidate for chancellor, Wüst told the newspaper "Bild am Sonntag": "I hope that we as the CDU/CSU do not make it too easy for the Chaos-Ampel by holding personnel debates at an inopportune time."

That is why he is not contributing to the debate himself. "TheCDU and CSU will clarify the issue together as agreed in the year before the general election."

Saxony's Minister President and CDU Vice President Michael Kretschmer told the newspaper in mid-December that Merz had done an "outstanding job as party leader for two years, he has reunited the CDU and is therefore the logical candidate for Chancellor". CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt also recently confirmed that Merz is the clear favorite in the race for chancellor.

The next Bundestag election will take place in the fall of 2025. In 2021, Bavaria's Minister President Markus Söder left the Union's candidacy for chancellor to then party leader Armin Laschet after a bitter power struggle. Wüst has not yet expressed any open ambitions to run for chancellor within the Christian Democrats, but has not denied it either. In August, Söder spoke out in favor of not selecting the Union's candidate for chancellor until after the 2024 elections in the east. New state parliaments will be elected in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in September.

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1. Despite the CSU's backing for Friedrich Merz as the 'candidate for chancellor', Hendrik Wüst, the CDU leader in North Rhine-Westphalia, has advised against having an 'untimely personnel debate'.
2. In a response to a 'k-question' about Merz's potential candidacy, Wüst emphasized the need for the CDU/CSU parties to agree on the chancellor candidate in a timely manner.
3. The 'CDU' and 'CSU' have agreed to discuss and decide on the chancellor candidate a year before the 2025 'Federal election' in Berlin.
4. Saxony's Minister President and CDU Vice President, Michael Kretschmer, had praised Merz's performance as party leader and considered him to be the 'logical candidate for chancellor'.
5. The 'CSU' regional group leader, Alexander Dobrindt, also acknowledged Merz as the clear frontrunner for the 'candidacy for chancellor' in the Union.
6. Wüst, the CDU leader in North Rhine-Westphalia, has not publicly expressed any interest in running for chancellor within the Christian Democrats but has not ruled it out either.
7. The 'Bundestag' election in 2025 comes after an 'untimely' candidacy for chancellor by Bavaria's Minister President Markus Söder in 2021, which led to a power struggle within the Union.
8. The next state elections will take place in September 2023 in Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg, which could potentially impact the parties' 'personnel debate' and 'candidacy for chancellor'.

Source: www.stern.de