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Berlin (dpa) - After the bitter power struggle for the Union's candidacy for chancellor, CDU boss Armin Laschet wants to approach the critics in his own ranks and closely involve CSU boss Markus Söder.

In the ARD, Laschet announced that he would seek talks with the district associations in the next few days, as he did after his election as CDU boss in January when he approached the camps of his competitors Friedrich Merz and Norbert Röttgen.

"The CDU needs that now."

His goal has always been to reconcile, to listen and to bring opposites together.

"And I believe that this quality - to bring people together in a time of great tension - is what we need in this federal election campaign," said Laschet on the ARD program "confess color".

He also counts on Söder: “He will of course be a formative figure in this union election campaign.

He also said himself that he is getting involved, ”he said.

"And personally we will do it together too."

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Laschet had prevailed on Tuesday in the dispute over the candidate for chancellor against Söder. The CSU chief proclaimed Laschet to be a common candidate for the Union after he had received clear support in the CDU federal executive board the night before. However, Laschet's nomination did not spark any enthusiasm in the Union. Thuringia's CDU state chief Christian Hirte even spoke of a “decision against the CDU base”. Critics point above all to the comparatively poor approval ratings for Laschet.

A Forsa flash survey seems to confirm such assessments. In the RTL / ntv trend barometer of the opinion research institute, the Union crashed on Tuesday, compared to last week it lost seven percentage points and landed only at 21 percent. The Greens shot up by five points and displaced the Union from first place with 28 percent. You had proclaimed co-party leader Annalena Baerbock as chancellor candidate on Monday. The SPD slipped two points to 13 percent.

An Insa quick poll on behalf of «Bild», however, comes to different results.

Accordingly, the Greens only gain one point after Baerbock's freestyle for candidate for chancellor and now come to 22 percent.

The CDU / CSU has to give up one point compared to Monday's Insa opinion trend and lands at 27 percent.

The SPD (16 percent), AfD (12 percent) and Left (7 percent) keep their values.

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On ZDF, Laschet once again conjured the unity of the Union.

"I believe that in terms of content, the CDU and CSU, we are closer together than we have been for a long time," he said on the program "What now ...?"

He again protested against the impression that the power struggle with Söder had split the Union.

If there are two candidates and then there is a vote, there is no split, said Laschet.

"That's called democracy."

But he also admitted: "We have taken on a strenuous eight to ten days."

In the federal election campaign, he counts on the support of Söder and the CSU: "We can only win it together."

Söder had previously backed Laschet.

He will support the candidate without resentment and with full strength, said the CSU boss in Munich.

"Only a closed union can be successful in the end."

In his thanks to his supporters, Söder also explicitly mentioned the “courageous MPs” who would have spoken for him in the CDU, and thanked “the young, the modern (...) for their really outstanding support ».

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CSU General Secretary Markus Blume emphasized that Söder had impressively demonstrated the pull he could develop for the Union.

"Markus Söder was clearly the candidate of the hearts."

But in the end the majority decides in a democracy.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210421-99-285341 / 4