Merkel’s Divided Party Aims to Shut Down Leadership Talk for Now
Merkel's Divided Party Aims to Shut Down Leadership Talk for Now
(Bloomberg) -- Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has a packed agenda for its two-day party convention, but the question looming over everything -- who will bid to become Germany’s next chancellor -- may take a back seat.
The party leadership is aiming to avoid any direct discussion of candidates for the country’s top job after public challenges to chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer’s authority nearly prompted an open revolt.
Even a resolution that would allow CDU members to choose a candidate for the country’s top job is expected to be blocked. The proposal would directly undermine Kramp-Karrenbauer, who tradition dictates, would have first rights to a bid.
CDU delegates at the gathering in the eastern German city of Leipzig on Friday and Saturday are more likely to make a demonstration of unity, eager to pull the shaken party back from the brink of political chaos, according to party officials. Kramp-Karrenbauer, who succeeded Merkel in a tight contest at last year’s party conference, sought to seize control over the candidacy question and shore up her role as leader.
“As party chairwoman, I’m the one who is leading this process,” Kramp-Karrenbauer told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper in an interview published Friday. She said anyone who wants to change that, can try to at the conference -- effectively challenging her opponents.
The succession debate reflects a broader crisis in the CDU not unlike those faced by other European centrist parties, with eroding support and sliding poll numbers. Merkel’s party has lost voters to the far-right Alternative for Germany as well as the environmentalist Greens. A bludgeoning defeat in the eastern state of Thuringia last month brought on the latest round of sniping.
Delegates will gather on the 14th anniversary of Merkel’s accession as German leader, with the chancellor’s authority in the party waning a year after she handed over the CDU leadership. Instead of resolving the issue of who would follow Merkel, Kramp-Karrenbauer’s stewardship has failed to unite the party.
That’s left potential successors waiting in the wings, including Friedrich Merz, who narrowly lost his bid to lead the party to Kramp-Karrenbauer at last year’s convention. Jens Spahn, Merkel’s health minister, is another possible contender, who has locked in support from the party’s conservatives.
Merz, who has the backing of the CDU’s industry wing, has signaled he’ll hold any direct fire. He raised hackles among CDU moderates last month after accusing Merkel of dithering and smothering Germany “like a carpet of fog.”
Alexander Mitsch, an outspoken Merkel critic who leads a 3,000-strong right-wing faction within the CDU, predicted that dissent at the convention won’t be open.
“Unfortunately, not much will happen with regard to the necessary political shift,” Mitsch said in an interview. “This will just be a beauty contest.”
Still, party unrest will be gauged by a number of resolutions challenging the government. An early draft of a motion signed by 500 party members sought a full ban of Chinese equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. from entering Germany’s fifth-generation network -- a position Merkel’s government has dismissed as legally untenable.
In a last-minute effort to reach consensus, CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak said he will present a compromise resolution on Friday.
“I believe that in this form it’s sensible and will therefore get a majority at this party congress,” Ziemiak told ZDF TV.
The CDU meeting is a prelude to the convention of the Social Democrats in two weeks, at which Merkel’s junior coalition partner, under new leadership, will decide whether to stay in the unloved alliance with Merkel or break ranks -- a move that could ultimately trigger a new election.
To contact the reporters on this story: Arne Delfs in Leipzig, Germany at adelfs@bloomberg.net;Patrick Donahue in Leipzig, Germany at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Raymond Colitt
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