CDU, Hoch-Sauerland: Letter posse to the editor about Merz's candidacy

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After he had asked the local newspaper "Westfalenpost" not to print any more letters to the editor about the campaign between Friedrich Merz and his opponent in the Hochsauerland district, the CDU district chairman Matthias Kerkhoff apologized.

"Influencing the media was and is completely far from me," said Kerkhoff on Friday evening of the German press agency.

Before that, there had been severe headwinds on social media.

On Friday, Kerkhoff had asked three local editorial offices of the "Westfalenpost" in writing not to publish any more letters to the editor about the duel between Merz and the incumbent member of the Bundestag Patrick Sensburg.

Both want to be nominated by their district association as candidates for the Bundestag on April 17th.

It can only be one.

Kerkhoff told the dpa: “For me, freedom of the press is one of the highest goods in our free society.

I regret that my statement could be understood differently and apologize. "

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The question of who should represent the region in the Bundestag in the future will be “currently being discussed nationwide and extensive editorial reports”, said Kerkhoff.

“This is precisely the task of the media and the formation of political will.

As district chairman, I wanted to express my concern that an internal party debate could be fueled even further by the increased number of letters to the editor. "

The “Westfalenpost” published Kerkhoff's letter on Friday and emphasized that it would continue to print letters to the editor on the subject, as they were part of the political will-formation process: “The fact that the media withhold expressions of opinion in the run-up to intra-party contest candidates or contest votes does not correspond to ours journalistic mission statement. "

German Association of Journalists: "Without Words"

The German Association of Journalists (DJV) in North Rhine-Westphalia tweeted on Friday: "Without words: The chairman of the CDU Hochsauerland, Matthias Kerkhoff, called on several editors of the Westfalenpost not to publish any more letters to the editor to vote against Friedrich Merz and MdB Patrick Sensburg." pointed out in a second tweet that Kerkhoff is also the parliamentary managing director of the CDU parliamentary group in the Düsseldorf state parliament.

Many other users of the social medium called for Kerkhoff's resignation.

Around 480 CDU delegates from the Hochsauerland district will decide at a meeting in a sports stadium on April 17th whether to send Merz or Sensburg as a candidate for the federal election.

Administrative expert Sensburg, who succeeded Merz as a member of the Hochsauerlandkreis in the Bundestag in 2009, had already submitted his application in January.

Merz officially threw his hat into the ring at the beginning of March.