The CDU completed its presidency at a digital party conference after the election of Friedrich Merz as chairman and Mario Czaja as general secretary.
On Saturday, the delegates elected Andreas Jung, member of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg, Michael Kretschmer, Prime Minister of Saxony, economic expert Carsten Linnemann from North Rhine-Westphalia, and Karin Prien, Schleswig-Holstein's education minister, as deputy party chairmen.
Silvia Breher, who was nominated by the Lower Saxony state association and has been acting as deputy since 2019, was also re-elected.
Lorenz Hemicker
Editor in Politics
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The candidates set different accents when they were presented in the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus.
Breher announced that he wanted to campaign for the compatibility of family and work and for the promotion of rural areas.
Jung said the Union must become the party of sustainability in Germany, "us and no one else".
Kretschmer emphasized the role of the CDU as the "last people's party" that must be preserved, the Union's task of control as it is now the leading opposition force in the Bundestag and, last but not least, that the Union must face those who oppose the democracy and spread fake news.
"CDU needs a clear signature tune"
Linnemann outlined his own three-point program: The CDU needed "a clear signature tune" again, its members had to be enthusiastic about the things they advocated "and not just about ourselves". After all, it would be about acquiring a “doing mentality” again. Prien announced that he would make a contribution to ensuring that people in Germany trust the CDU again. She promoted a strong base, a clear course and pointed to her role as a successful election campaigner. In Schleswig-Holstein, people will vote on a new state parliament on May 8th.
Only Kretschmer was able to match the successes of Friedrich Merz and Mario Czaja, who had previously received 95 and 93 percent of the votes cast, respectively, with a result of almost 93 percent.
Silvia Breher (82 percent), Carsten Linnemann and Michael Jung (both 81 percent) scored almost on an equal footing, while Karin Prien scored 71 percent.
When the seven other members of the Executive Committee were elected, it was clear from the start that there would be a loser.
Eight candidates applied for the positions.
While the deputies had another opportunity to contact the delegates personally on Saturday, the other applicants had to rely on their election videos in view of the corona pandemic and the associated restrictions on those present in the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus.
In the end, the role of the loser fell to the chairwoman of the Women's Union, Annette Widmann-Mauz. She was able to unite only 45 percent of the votes in the vote. After the election, delegates said that resentment towards the Women's Union probably played a role. It is considered encrusted, lacking in innovation and was ineffective in the election campaign. As chairwoman of the Women's Union, Widmann-Mauz remains part of the federal executive board. In addition to her, the former Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn and the young digital specialist Ronja Kemmer, proposed by the Junge Union, were candidates for the thankless role of the eighth.
In fact, Spahn ended up with 60 percent, the worst result of those elected, while Kemmer surprisingly safely moved into the presidency with 70 percent. Other members were North Rhine-Westphalia's Labor Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (84 percent), Saxony-Anhalt's Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (83 percent), Lower Saxony's Economics Minister Bernd Althusmann (82 percent), the Hessian CDU parliamentary group leader Ines Claus and North Rhine-Westphalia's Homeland Minister Ina Scharrenbach (68 percent) elected.
The party congress re-elected Henning Otte as Members' Representative (with 92 percent), while the long-standing deputy federal chairwoman Julia Klöckner received 73 percent of the votes when she was elected federal treasurer.
The digital elections must be formally confirmed by postal vote.
Their result is to be announced on January 31st.