The leader of the CDU parliamentary group in the Römer, Nils Kößler, is withdrawing from the competition for party leadership.

Although he had "received significant support from various parts of the party," he wrote in a statement on Wednesday.

On the other hand, he was concerned that an additional claim as district chairman could “at the expense of my work as parliamentary group chairman and opposition leader in the Römer”.

He does not share this concern, but takes it seriously, “because the party is currently formulating a clear priority for my municipal work”.

The 44-year-old lawyer, who is also the parliamentary group manager and does local politics as his main job, will initially focus on the role of parliamentary group leader.

Martin Benninghoff

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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"The decision deserves great respect," said the honorary chairman and former state minister Udo Corts on Wednesday of the FAZ.

Kößler would have been a "veritable candidate," even in a dual role as faction leader and party leader, Corts said.

However, he considers it a “wise decision” to separate the two offices and place them in different hands.

"We have a lot of work to do," said Corts, who has led the county for more than a decade.

“Real renewal in the Frankfurt Union

But first a new personnel tableau must be found that represents the party wing and enables a renewal of content and personnel. Most recently, the Junge Union (JU) in Frankfurt called for the CDU to become younger and more female. So far, just under a third of the members are women, the average age is 57 years. The youth organization has proposed six new candidates for the district executive to the search group around Corts, which also includes the former city treasurer Uwe Becker, state parliament president Boris Rhein and the outgoing party leader Schneider, "to promote real renewal in the Frankfurt Union," said JU- Boss Leopold Born.

The question remains who will take the chair and whether this person embodies the desired renewal. After the departure of Schneider and Kößler, there are theoretically several candidates left, namely Uwe Becker and the former member of the Bundestag Bettina Wiesmann. According to reports, there is at least one other contender, but he probably has no real chance. There was slight confusion on Wednesday over the question of whether the "finding committee" had already decided on Becker, which Corts denied in the afternoon. The board of directors of the MIT Association of SMEs, one of the two major wings of the party, had found Uwe Becker as a possible party leader on Tuesday evening "after extensive discussion," as her boss Christiane Loizides said on Wednesday. It was initially unclear what this meant for the finding process.