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North Rhine-Westphalia's interior minister Herbert Reul fears that the CDU would lose its majority power if Friedrich Merz were elected party chairman.
"It is not enough if the core force of the CDU applauds, but the voters no longer want us," Reul told the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" (Saturday).
“I fear that an election of Friedrich Merz as party leader would drive the Green voters, who have so far elected the Merkel CDU.
We cannot be interested in that, ”the newspaper quoted the CDU politician as saying.
Merz polarize and stand “only for one thought”, said Reul accordingly.
The CDU will not win "if it only stands for one direction."
In January, the federal CDU wants to elect a new chairman at a digital party conference with subsequent postal voting.
In addition to the former Union parliamentary group leader Merz, the foreign politician Norbert Röttgen and NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet are also running for office.
It is expected that the future party chairman will be nominated as a common candidate for chancellor of the Union for the upcoming federal election at the end of September.
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However, the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) is also expected to have chances for the office.
However, he has not yet officially applied as a candidate.