Armin Laschet or Markus Söder – the Union is arguing about the candidacy for chancellor. Frank Plasberg invites you to exchange views in “Hart aber fair”.
Berlin – In view of the offensive statements made by the CSU chairman Markus Söder in relation to his desired candidacy for the Chancellery, which were distributed between Sunday and Monday via various channels, the moderator Frank Plasberg felt compelled to broadcast his current program “hart aber fair” (ARD) from April 12, 2021 to focus on the power struggle, as he himself called it, in the Union.
To exchange views, Plasberg called on a group of politicians and journalists who, as it turned out, above all shared the fear that the current disagreement between the two factions could permanently damage the Union and endanger Germany’s ability to act politically.
CDU board member at Frank Plasberg: Laschet “honest” and “real”, Söder with a declaration of war
Guests at “hart aber fair” (ARD) were Herbert Reul, Minister of the Interior of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and member of the CDU federal executive board, who described Armin Laschet as “honest” and “genuine” and thus confirmed him as his preferred candidate, as well as Lars Klingbeil, Secretary General der SPD, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, deputy parliamentary group leader of the FDP, Albrecht von Lucke, journalist and political scientist, and Kristina Dunz, journalist.
| The guests at “hard but fair” | |
| Markus Blume (activated) | Secretary General of the CSU |
| Herbert Reul | Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Lars Klingbeil | General Secretary of the SPD |
| Alexander Count Lambsdorff | Deputy leader of the FDP parliamentary group |
| Albrecht von Lucke | Publicist and political scientist |
| Kristina Dunz | Journalist |
After those present largely agreed that Markus Söder had made a clear declaration of war on the CDU with his behavior, as Dunz put it, and this would be very dangerous for the Union, as it could result in the destruction of the Union’s top, as it did von Lucke said, Frank Plasberg switched Markus Blume, the general secretary of the CSU, from Munich.
“Hard but fair”: Frank Plasberg wants a clear statement from the CDU General Secretary
Plasberg tried in vain on “hart aber fair” (ARD) to get Blume to give a clear statement on the expected decision-making on the question of Laschet and Söder. Blume asked for time for the Union, which is now confronted with a “luxury problem” of having to choose one of two very good candidates.
Plasberg’s accusation that the current situation, in which two different candidates are now available, must be viewed as a leadership failure of the party, as also formulated by Lucke and Graf Lambsdorff, was rejected by Blume. The Union has always seen itself as a unit in which both parties are allowed to participate and make joint decisions.
Blume gave herself a week to make this decision. The fear of those present that the party would unreasonably waste its time on personnel issues, especially in the current critical Corona situation, while other questions are more urgent, Blume tried to dispel. The passage of the Infection Protection Act naturally has priority, he affirmed. Lars Klingbeil from the SPD pointed out that the dispute within the party was undermining the party’s credibility, and he doubted that the Union could still bear leadership responsibility at all.
“Hart aber fair” (ARD) with Frank Plasberg: What people expect from the Federal Chancellor
Herbert Reul agreed with “hart aber fair” (ARD) in so far as he pointed out that the choice would have to fall on a candidate who is trusted to manage the post-Corona period. “Who will give the answers for the time after that? And who covers the population better? ”He put in as a question and, from his point of view, answered clearly with the name Armin Laschet.
Blume also said that a figure had to be presented to the population in September who had the trust of the people to lead Germany into the future. Therefore, in his opinion, it is necessary to determine the broadest possible range of opinions from both parties. He thus coincided with the statements of Söder, who claimed in a first step that he would submit to the decision of the party committees, but wanted to question the party base in a second attempt.
Survey in the TV audience of the ARD: People in Germany want factual politics instead of egopolitics
Blum’s behavior, which could be understood as backing Söder, supported the jointly expressed concern of Count Lamdsdorff, Klingbeil, Dunz and von Lucke that the Union was threatened with a split that would ultimately lead to the loss of the election. From the logic of the union, there should have been only one candidate. By showing disagreement, the party offends the electorate, said Dunz.
The well-rehearsed voices from the audience of “hart aber fair” (ARD) proved her right. The population would like a focus on the Corona crisis and less ego, but factual politics, as one public opinion put it. The journalist Kristina Dunz was already certain that the Union’s corona policy had to be viewed as a major failure and that this had already caused great damage to both parties, the CDU and CSU.
ARD broadcast: Laschet is a favorite with Frank Plasberg
To what extent Söder could ultimately prevail over Laschet as the leading candidate, Plasberg wanted to know from his guests in his final question on “hard but fair” (ARD). In order to achieve this, said von Lucke, he had to actively mobilize the party’s base for himself. That would mean that he would have to resort to populist agitation and trigger a real “revolution” in order to strengthen his position, said Count Lamsdorff. But this would take the committees by surprise and behave anti-party. As a result, the positions tilted, paralyzing any ability to act for making important decisions, remarked Lars Klingbeil from the SPD.
To the broadcast
“Hard but fair” (ARD): Showdown of the candidates – will the Union trip up the Chancellery? The broadcast in the media library.
The discussion ended with the questioning of those present about their preferences and saw Armin Laschets as the preferred next Chancellor or at least Chancellor candidate, with Klingbeil speaking out for his own candidate Olaf Scholz and Dunz pessimistic fear that Ms. Merkel would have to hold the position until the end of 2021, because by then no coalition will have come about. (Teresa Vena)
