Günther: No rush to decide whether to run for chancellor

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Kiel (dpa / lno) - Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther sees no time pressure for the decision on the Union's candidate for chancellor for the federal election in nine months.

"At the moment we have a pandemic to fight - that is our main task," said the CDU politician of the German press agency.

"We don't have to break the answer to the question of which top candidate we are going to go to in the federal elections."

Günther himself had only been chosen as the top candidate of the North CDU three months before the 2017 state election.

Günther did not want to commit to the question of a new CDU leader, which was also crucial for the Union.

Whether in January NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet, ex-Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz or the former Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen will be elected CDU chairman?

He knows no more than journalists.

Günther had repeatedly expressed sympathy for Laschet and distance to Merz in the past.

The new CDU chairman would of course have a decisive say in the candidacy for chancellor, he said.

“But I will stick to the fact that this question will be discussed between the CDU and the CSU in the end.

I'm not ruling anything out in these times. "

The background is the speculation about a possible candidate for chancellor of the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU).

"We will position ourselves well and decide on the question of the candidate for chancellor in good time after the party congress," said Günther.

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Günther has always emphasized for his future that he does not want to move to Berlin, but rather to be re-elected Prime Minister in 2022.

When asked whether that could still change, he answered briefly: "No".

From Günther's point of view, the corona pandemic will influence the upcoming elections in Germany in various ways.

"It is already becoming apparent that people are rewarding good leadership through the crisis," he said.

"With regard to the CDU, this gives a little hope that this trust will continue."

Since the pandemic affects all of life, this cannot bypass elections either.

"Everything that is happening at the moment also plays a role in the mood in the population," said Günther.

The pandemic will also affect the election campaign.

This would already be shown by the state elections in March in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg.

"We cannot say exactly how a dialogue with citizens can take place in these times."