At its party congress, the CDU was more concerned with itself than with the country.

The personnel debates that raged from 2018 until January of this year were now followed by an intensive program discussion.

The debates about the women's quota and the "Charter of Values", which should be about the world, about God and the Union, got stuck on the question of whether the word "equality" should be replaced by "equal rights" in women's politics.

Former Women's Minister Kristina Schröder made it clear how far parts of the Union want to fall behind the earlier consensus on what is desirable.

She described the right to equal participation of women in social life as a "planned economy".

Others found that the term "equality", which had already been established in the Kohl-CDU in the mid-1980s, was an "identitarian battlefield of the left".

The tight votes, also on a moderate quota for women, showed a party divided in content.

Later, the CDU, aging and unattractive to younger voters, discussed and decided that they wanted to educate young people with compulsory social or military service to have more community spirit.

The project is not even approved by the Bundeswehr, all other parties reject it, with the exception of the AfD.

It became clear that the CDU needed more than four years and three chairmen to break away from the Merkel era.

Programmatically, she continues to struggle with severe identity issues.

Friedrich Merz nonetheless led the party confidently through the party conference and also offered a stage to CSU leader Markus Söder.

Merz knows: The CDU and CSU can only be successful together.

It almost went without saying that the former party leader and candidate for chancellor, Armin Laschet, stayed away from this performance.

The delegates in Hanover were more like a wild herd than an orchestra.

Secretary General Mario Czaja and some members of the Presidency tried to rein in the discussions, especially on the issue of quotas for women.

They failed miserably.

Because the quota discussion turned out to be longer and more heated than planned, the CDU showed itself to be a lively, hard but fair debating party that finally found a compromise.

Merz had advertised a moderate quota.

More women at all levels

Their goal is to attract more women at all levels and thus become a more representative part of a society that is much more female, younger and more diverse in terms of origin than today's CDU.

The party chairman, who has not yet been noticed as a feminist, supported and defended this in Hanover.

He fought when the debate ran against the supporters and thus also against him, with the boys' union cheering happily.

Dozens spoke out against the quota, not a single man.

An illustrious example of political cowardice on the part of the male quota opponents, who had hit the drum beforehand.

When things got tough, Merz jumped to the side from women from whom he could not necessarily expect support.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, for example, a former rival in the fight for party leadership, and Julia Klöckner, otherwise not exactly part of his fan club.

Klöckner attacked the male "thigh-knockers" who applauded from the back rows of the party hall what younger women at the lectern were reciting in their favor.

That was the turning point.

But also committed contributions from Hendrik Wüst from North Rhine-Westphalia and Daniel Günther from Schleswig-Holstein.

One noticed: The CDU leadership sticks together when it matters.

This is a good sign after years of trench warfare.

What makes these big meetings exciting

In a democracy, disputes over direction are fought out at party conferences.

The arguments, the polemics, the votes - that's what makes these major meetings exciting.

For the CDU it was different for a long time.

As an association for the purpose of maintaining power, it had almost always subordinated itself to the requirements of Chairwoman Angela Merkel.

It was effective, but deadly boring. Now the CDU has also programmatically awakened to new life.

And because she is not currently in government, she can afford to discuss program issues at length.

The Social Democrats did the same at the time.

It was only when they had overcome their Hartz IV trauma after years of discussions that the SPD was again able to successfully campaign for chancellor.

The passion of the debates makes the Union attractive: Participation can be worthwhile, every vote counts.

In this way, and perhaps only in this way, the Union can continue to be a people's party and become capable of governing again.