Merz doesn’t wish to enable any additional energy struggles with Söder | EUROtoday

DHe CDU chairman Friedrich Merz doesn’t assume that CSU chief Markus Söder will enable one other inside energy wrestle over the Union’s candidacy for chancellor within the subsequent federal election. “Markus Söder and I simply understand each other too well personally,” stated Merz to the German Press Agency in Berlin. “And he also knows that we will not and do not want to repeat it like it did in 2021.” The CDU chairman added: “I will not allow something like that to happen again.”

When requested whether or not he was the “natural candidate for chancellor” in an early Bundestag election, Merz answered cautiously. “We are talking about this in the Union between the CDU and CSU. First the party chairmen, then of course also the state chairmen. When the time comes. And we stick to that.”

The workplace of Chancellor requires expertise, robust nerves, management and teamwork, stated Merz. We will focus on this after which decide collectively. Of course, he additionally talks to his household in regards to the matter. As earlier than, he won’t make any choice “that does not meet with the approval of my family.”

Merz speaks of humility and respect

Merz stated a couple of attainable candidacy for chancellor that he was “approaching this question with great humility and great respect because I know that this office is the most important office that is politically available in the Federal Republic of Germany.” The workplace calls for a excessive degree of worldwide presence and a excessive degree of worldwide respect. “I also have to take a number of factors into account, which I will carefully reflect on and decide on for myself. This is not a given.”

When requested whether or not there was something in opposition to him turning into a candidate for chancellor, Merz replied: “The question of which groups of voters I reach as a person is an issue.” In addition, he will likely be 70 years outdated just a few weeks after the subsequent common federal election within the fall of the yr after subsequent . “After (the first CDU chancellor) Konrad Adenauer, I would be the oldest applicant for the office of Chancellor in the Federal Republic of Germany. These are considerations that I have to keep an eye on.”

When it was identified that the doubtless presidential candidates within the United States within the 2024 elections there can be considerably older, Merz stated: “And exactly as a result of it’s like that within the USA, for me it’s extra of a warning, not only a matter after all “It’s clear that you can still fill such an office at this age.” US President Joe Biden is 81 years outdated, his attainable challenger and predecessor Donald Trump is 77 years outdated.

He feels match, stated Merz. When he not too long ago needed to fly with a Bundeswehr Eurofighter, he was checked over for seven hours on the Bundeswehr Aviation Medical Center – and there have been no complaints.

The time for a choice on the Okay challenge stays open

The query of when the Union will determine on the Okay query relies on two elements, stated Merz. “Firstly, when will the federal election actually take place? Secondly, if it doesn’t take place regularly until autumn 2025, then we need a year’s notice for the candidate to really prepare for the election.”

With a view to Söder’s transfer to determine on the candidate for chancellor solely after the state elections in September 2024, Merz stated: “That could be after these state elections in the east, it could also be before. This is a question of the political assessment of the situation and we will do it together.” The following applies: “The two party leaders are, in principle, always potential candidates.”

The CDU chairman defended controversial statements reminiscent of these about “little pashas” or the outline of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) because the “plumber of power”. “The opposition leader has to formulate things pointedly every now and then so that an issue becomes an issue. And only through the contradiction does it become an issue.” He set such matters. He will proceed to do that sooner or later: “I cannot essentially change or faux. I’m who I’m with all my strengths and my weaknesses. That’s a part of it.”

The SPD chairwoman Saskia Esken had accused Merz that the Union underneath him was “extremely dangerous” for social cohesion within the nation. She additionally referred to phrases reminiscent of “little pashas”, which, in keeping with her, had beforehand solely been utilized by the AfD within the debate.