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The question of the Union's candidacy for chancellor turns into an open power struggle between the two party leaders Armin Laschet (CDU) and Markus Söder (CSU).

Both declared their readiness to accept the candidacy in a closed meeting of the group leaders on Sunday.

A decision was not yet made on Sunday;

a conversation between the two party leaders has not yet brought any result, it said.

According to WELT and AFP information at the meeting, Söder said: “If the CDU were ready to support me, I would be ready.

If the CDU does not want it, a good cooperation remains without resentment. ”Laschet also declared his readiness.

"There are two potential candidates," he was quoted as saying.

It is about the overall success of the Union and the best for the country, said Söder.

A consensus had to be found, with the participation of the people concerned, the parties and the group.

“Our aim must be to be number one in Germany,” he said after the exam.

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The main opponent in the Bundestag election is clearly defined: "They are the Greens." Regardless of who is the candidate for chancellor, they will work together "very well".

“At the end of this process, we don't want division, but unity,” said Söder.

“We are not Helmut Kohl and Franz Josef Strauss.

Not even optically.

Not even in terms of content. "

According to Söder, the two party leaders spoke “long and amicably” about the candidacy on Saturday.

It was "no final conversation".

Laschet made a similar statement after the closed meeting: "Markus Söder and I had a long conversation before today." The aim is to achieve as much unity as possible between the CDU and the CSU.

“The world expects a stable Germany.

That is why we as Union parties have a very special responsibility. "

At the meeting, Laschet said that he and Söder trusted each other to run, participants reported.

"We have mutually attested to the fact that we can both do it," Laschet was quoted by participants as saying.

He was "in conversation" with Söder about the further procedure for the free choice of the Union candidate.

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Laschet added: “We are aware of our responsibility.

We will answer the question well, with one another, also with personal appreciation that there is for one another. ”What is important is“ the backing of the parties and the unity of the Union ”.

Schäuble against decision of the K question in the parliamentary group

Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) has opposed a decision in the parliamentary group in the discussion about the Union's candidacy for chancellor.

This would be a big mistake, said Schäuble, according to information from participants at the meeting of the head of the Union faction.

He remembers the decision in the Union parliamentary group in favor of the then CSU leader Franz Josef Strauss in 1979 and the severe wounds this left.

A quick agreement between the parties would be good, Schäuble made clear at the same time.

After attempts to mediate on several levels in the search for a Union Chancellor candidate failed, the Union parliamentary group elected the then Bavarian Prime Minister Strauss as candidate for Chancellor - against Lower Saxony's CDU Prime Minister Ernst Albrecht.

There were strong supporters of Strauss's candidacy in the election campaign - as well as vehement opponents.

In the end, the Union lost the 1980 Bundestag election to the SPD Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, who had been in office since 1974.