After the election debacle in Saxony-Anhalt, the Federal CDU, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, is discussing possible consequences. Also there in Berlin's Konrad-Adenauer-Haus: top candidate Sven Schulze, who fell from 37.1 to 17.2 percent in Sunday's election with the CDU - a loss of almost 20 percentage points. His future is now just as important as that of Chancellor Merz.
The head of government in Berlin is partly blamed for the defeat. And his authority is already seen as having been significantly weakened since his much-criticized personnel restructuring before the summer break. There is speculation as to whether the two state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in two weeks could bring him down.
Chancellery Minister Nina Warken warned against a discussion about his replacement. “Friedrich Merz leads a federal government that now has to tackle necessary but also difficult reforms, and I think it would be the wrong thing if we asked personnel questions,” said the CDU politician in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”. “The government is elected for four years, the Bundestag is elected for four years.” A certain stability is also needed now.
Merz followed the sweeping election victory on Sunday evening for six hours at the party headquarters in Berlin together with other top party people. He doesn't want to comment on this until the afternoon after the committee meetings. In the morning, Merz first called the CDU prime ministers together to discuss with them alone - an unusual step. The party executive committee meeting began 50 minutes late.
The board then met. Normally, a top candidate gets flowers after election day - even if things didn't go so well. Not this time. Schulze admitted his crushing defeat on election evening. What will happen next for him is still unclear. The ball for forming a government is now in the AfD's court.
The mood in the CDU was best summed up by the head of the workers' wing CDA, Dennis Radtke. “It still feels as bad today as it did yesterday. Kind of like being hungover without alcohol.” “Politician phrases” won’t get you anywhere anymore, he says. “This is a turning point, not just for my party, for the CDU, but for the entire political center in Germany.” But it is difficult to demand consequences from the hip.
Union parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei also said that the CDU now had to stay the course for the first time - especially with the major reforms. “We have an enormous need for reforms in Germany and therefore it would be a wrong conclusion to believe that these reforms can be avoided,” said the CDU politician before the meetings of the party committees.
The SPD sees it differently and could cause additional trouble for the Chancellor in addition to pressure from within the party. SPD General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf has already announced a need for changes. “I do believe that the federal government and the leading parties also bear responsibility for the election results,” he said in Phoenix. Many people are unsettled by the reform plans. The things that now need to be discussed include pensions, care, health and fuel prices.
With the planned abolition of the deduction-free pension after 45 years of contributions, the SPD has “a huge need for discussion,” said Klüssendorf. This also applies to the topic of refueling. A fuel price cap doesn't even cost money, he said. “It is very, very important that we discuss this seriously with each other in this coalition.”
First of all, the Chancellor will probably have another two weeks of grace - until the next state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In Berlin, the CDU is threatened with losing the office of governing mayor - possibly to the left. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - if things go really badly - it could fall below the ten percent mark to fourth place.
There, too, the question of cooperation with the Left could arise when forming a government beyond the AfD. The debate about changing the chancellor could then break out again - with an open outcome.
North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst has been discussed as a possible successor for weeks. He took part in the committee meetings and then wanted to complete election campaign appointments in Berlin.
Merz will continue to make himself rare in the election campaign. The CDU's top candidate in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Daniel Peters, said that no further appearance by the head of government and party chairman was planned. On his only visit so far to Kühlungsborn, he was greeted by individual voters with catcalls, insults and demands for his resignation.
