“Central problem of this coalition” – Stegner accuses Merz of weak leadership

Shortly before the expected official nomination of Ilse Aigner (CSU) as the Union candidate for the office of Federal President, criticism of the leadership style of Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is becoming louder - including in the ranks of the SPD. “The whole process shows the weakness of leadership, which is a central problem of this government coalition,” said SPD politician Ralf Stegner to the “Rheinische Post”. Merz appears “thanks to Markus Söder to be the driving force behind this selection process”.

Stegner assesses Aigner's personality positively: The Bavarian state parliament president is a good choice "because she is smart and has integrity, is respected across party lines and at the same time down-to-earth," said the SPD politician. “In times of great challenges to democracy from right-wing extremist parties, this should not be underestimated.”

The former Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann (Greens), said in the BR program “Sonntags-Stammtisch”: “The craftsmanship is simply lacking.” With reference to the various changes in the federal government, he criticized Merz's personnel policy: "He likes to stumble on them. That doesn't seem to be his strength."

Criticism from the Greens

There had also been criticism from the Greens before. “Friedrich Merz has once again let an important personnel procedure slip away,” said former Green Party leader Omid Nouripour to the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. His party colleague and parliamentary group leader Britta Haßelmann told the dpa: "The unprofessional search by the Union and Friedrich Merz is unworthy of this office. How can you stumble a process like that?"

The CDU presidium meets in Berlin in the evening. It is expected that Merz will propose Aigner (CSU) as the Union's common candidate. Söder had already brought his party colleague into play in April. Merz, on the other hand, did not make any specific comments in the candidate debate for a long time - not even when more and more CDU government and state leaders recently spoke out openly in favor of Aigner. Instead, he referred to the agreed procedure.