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Berlin (dpa) - CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer sees the cohesion of the party as the top priority, especially with a narrow result of the chairman election in a week.
A few weeks later in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Wuerttemberg “and we will have to pass a challenging federal election in addition to further state and local elections in September,” she told the dpa.
“That will only work if the CDU stands together.
All three candidates know that. "
At the online party congress on January 15 and 16, after a year-long hangover due to the corona pandemic, ex-Union parliamentary leader Armin Laschet, Friedrich Merz and foreign politician Norbert Röttgen are applying for the party chairmanship.
It is expected that nobody will get an absolute majority in the first ballot and that there will be a second ballot.
The future CDU leader, along with the CSU chairman Markus Söder, is a possible candidate for chancellor of the Union parties.
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When asked whether a split in the CDU was threatening after their own narrow victory against Merz at the Hamburg party conference in 2018, Kramp-Karrenbauer said: “It is the special responsibility of the candidates, regardless of the election result, to ensure that this does not happen . "
The fact that all candidates had assured that they would accept every result that was determined digitally, no matter how tight it was, and that the losers did not want to take part in the final written vote, “is a sign that all three candidates know how important it is Cohesion of the CDU is.
That is the top priority for everyone.
And that is also my big wish to the party. "
When asked how she assessed the balance of power between Laschet, Merz and Röttgen at the party congress, the outgoing chairwoman replied cautiously.
This is «difficult to assess because at the moment you don't have delegate meetings beforehand or on-site appointments where you can get a picture of the mood.
I'm just as excited as all the other delegates. "
A runoff election is always possible with three candidates.
When asked about the right time for the chancellor candidate freestyle, Kramp-Karrenbauer said: "In the meantime, all three candidates have declared that they will not discuss the candidate for chancellor until the spring."
They assume that the newly elected CDU chairman will very quickly talk to Söder about the further processes.
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After Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble and parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus had not ruled out the possibility of a candidate for Chancellor who is neither a CDU nor a CSU leader, Kramp-Karrenbauer emphasized: “Of course, the position of party chairman is the natural one A common requirement is to have a first access right to the candidacy for chancellor. "
However, she restricted: “In the end, it will definitely be about the question: What is the initial situation?
What are the chances for potential candidates? "
It is the leadership responsibility of the party leaders to find a good joint proposal.
Despite the pandemic, Kramp-Karrenbauer was optimistic about the upcoming federal election campaign.
“There will certainly be a lot of digital components.
The CDU is also very fit there.
But we will certainly also hold face-to-face events. "
At the NRW local elections in 2020, for example, it was seen that this was possible.
“There is a need in the party to be in a room together again and to experience this special atmosphere.
You can't achieve that with the best digital party congress. "
Everything depends, however, on “how things continue, including the vaccinations, and how quickly we can get the pandemic under control”.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210109-99-952395 / 3