It works without a power struggle.
Friedrich Merz and Ralph Brinkhaus have agreed on the best solution without the Union being reminded of the tussle over the chancellor candidacy.
For Friedrich Merz, the personal union of party and parliamentary group chairmanship means the best starting position as opposition leader.
If the offices are separate, this is not a problem in the case of a (small) party whose parliamentary group does not claim to have to be ready at any time to take over the government.
For the Union, on the other hand, shared power would have meant that Merz would not even formally lead the opposition.
Brinkhaus, on the other hand, would formally be the leader, but only in the shadow of Merz.
The Will of the Constitution
However, the decision was not made unanimously.
Brinkhaus, politically oriented as he is, must have insisted on keeping the party and parliamentary group separate and leading the opposition “as a team”.
He bowed to party reason before the state elections.
In reality, the clean distinction between party function and mandate repeatedly fails due to the will to power.
That doesn't sound nice, but it is definitely the will of the constitution.
After all, the opposition should not just be breathing down the government's neck, but also offer a constructive alternative.
This can only be achieved through the often scorned, but sensible concentration of competences in Parliament.
Merz does what Merkel "did" to him
Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel showed the way.
Merz is now doing nothing other than what Merkel "did" to him back when he was in the role of Brinkhaus.
It remains to be seen whether Brinkhaus behaves differently than Merz, who retired disappointed at the time.
How would things have gone for the CDU if he hadn't left at the time?
It would be honorable for Merz and Brinkhaus if things ran differently between them.
The conditions for a return of the CDU are good.
Merz has already zeroed in on Scholz.
He needs guys like Brinkhaus to make a run of it.