Either way, it was clear that the North Rhine-Westphalian CDU would have to choose a new leadership after the federal election. In an interview with the FAZ shortly after his free choice to candidate for Union Chancellor in the spring, Prime Minister Armin Laschet emphasized that he did not claim a return ticket to Düsseldorf. The fact that the Bundestag election has now been so disastrous for the CDU seems to make the reorganization in North Rhine-Westphalia even more difficult than it already is. In the most populous federal state, the Union remained above its national average at 26 percent, but the strongest force was the Social Democrats with a three-point lead - who only recently came in third behind the Greens in surveys. Now the comrades are hoping to come back to power in the state elections on May 15 after just one legislative period.

Pure burger

Political correspondent in North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Laschet's CDU still has eight months to fight against its current loser image.

From this point of view, it seemed logical that General Secretary Josef Hovenjürgen proclaimed the start of his party's state election campaign on Sunday evening - the first devastating forecasts had barely flickered across the screens.

230 days remained, calculated Hovenjürgen.

However, the North Rhine-Westphalian CDU is currently not even partially ready to fight.

Although Laschet's departure has been certain for months, there was no telling on Monday when his regional association will be able to clarify his leadership issue and whether there will be a one-stop solution or an interim solution for the time being.

State chairmanship and prime ministerial office in one hand

A number of influential people in the CDU, such as Essen's Lord Mayor Thomas Kufen, have been pushing for weeks to get things done. This group is in favor of the 46-year-old Transport Minister Hendrik Wüst as Laschet's successor. The chairman of the North Rhine-Westphalian CDU state group in the Bundestag, Günter Krings, recommended on Sunday evening that the state chairmanship and the office of prime minister remain in one hand as before. A few days ago, the Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn, who comes from the Münsterland, expressed the same wording, which, as now with Krings, was interpreted as a recommendation for Wüst by both the media and party friends. Especially since the Minister of Transport fulfills the decisive, NRW-specific constitutional requirement for the election of Prime Minister:He is a member of the state parliament.

The experienced power strategist Herbert Reul, who in his role as Minister of the Interior enjoys a reputation far beyond CDU circles, believes, on the other hand, that there is “no time pressure at all”. He did not take office as Minister of the Interior in 2017, only to be voted out of office after five years. The person with the best prospects for election must be placed at the top. The safest guarantee of being punished by the voter is to argue, emphasizes Reul time and again, alluding to the grueling power struggle that Laschet and CSU leader Markus Söder fought for the candidacy for chancellor in the spring.

However, Reul and others in the party are not primarily concerned with avoiding conflicts, but rather with keeping an option open beyond Hendrik Wüst.

You favor the 44-year-old building minister Ina Scharrenbach to succeed Laschet in both offices, but she does not have a mandate in the state parliament.

So she cannot go into the election campaign with the office bonus of a prime minister.

However, their supporters consider them so much better suited for the top candidacy than Wüst, that they are ready to start an experiment that has never been dared before: A transitional minister-president should hold the chair for Scharrenbach until after the state elections.

The CDU parliamentary group leader Bodo Löttgen or finance minister Lutz Lienenkämper would be considered.

The opposition increases the pressure on the CDU

In the CDU parliamentary group, of course, many MPs doubt whether the voters would appreciate such power-tactical considerations. In addition, contrary to what the Scharrenbach camp claims, there is certainly time pressure. If the Bundestag is constituted in four weeks at the latest, Laschet must inform whether he will accept his list mandate in Berlin. If he does that, he has to give up his office as prime minister immediately. The background to this is a provision in the state constitution that is decisive in the current situation. There it says in Article 64: "A member of the state government cannot be a member of the Bundestag or the federal government at the same time."

Presumably things will accelerate in the coming days. On Monday evening, the state executive of the CDU first analyzed the situation, this Tuesday a debate is on the agenda of the state parliamentary group. The CDU district associations can submit candidate proposals for the state chairmanship until October 18. On October 23, the CDU will then elect a new state chairman at a party conference in Bielefeld. Meanwhile, the opposition is relishingly increasing the pressure on the Union. Josefine Paul, the co-chair of the Green parliamentary group, warns that North Rhine-Westphalia needs a government capable of acting and refers to the many challenges in the state, from the corona pandemic to education policy to climate protection.Opposition leader Thomas Kutschaty - who has long been established as the top candidate of the SPD - warns that Armin Laschet should "not continue the game any longer". North Rhine-Westphalia had only had one part-time prime minister in the past few months.