“This is primarily an austerity program” – CDU wing demands “course correction” from Merz

Dennis Radtke, head of the CDU social wing CDA, warned before the conclusion of the CDU presidium meeting that the reform course would lose social acceptance. "The concerns are overwhelming. This is a driver for the AfD because we are obviously not giving the right answers or are not currently giving any answers," he said in the "Berlin Playbook Podcast" of the WELT partner publication "Politico".

He warned that the reforms could be perceived by the population as merely austerity programs. He is particularly critical of the health care reform: “This is primarily an austerity program,” said the CDA boss. However, he rated the pension reform positively.

In another interview with the “Tagesspiegel” he called on Chancellor Merz to “correct course”. It is “part of Merz’s leadership responsibility to honestly analyze the situation and realistically classify his approval ratings among the population.”

Radtke complained about the CDU's thematic narrowing, which was to blame for the current party crisis. According to Radtke, the interpretation of “pure CDU” as “purely conservative and economically liberal” has “failed”.

The politician from North Rhine-Westphalia warned against further driving forward the polarization of society: The “business model of the Christian Democrats” is to bring together different positions in an open, liberal society. “Polarization and adding fuel to the fire only pays off for the AfD,” said Radtke. "We cannot beat them with their weapons. Our weapon is the balancing of interests." This comes directly from the Christian view of humanity.

Radtke also criticized the CDU for baseless and false promises that had been made in the past. “Things were promised that were subsequently not implemented,” he said. “On the other hand, we sometimes promise something different than what the population expects.”