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POLITICS

Germany’s Laschet takes rap for CDU’s poll drubbing

Armin Laschet, the chief of outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, on Saturday took the rap for its worst ever poll result and said he would quit as the head of the country's most populous state.

Published: 16 October 2021 20:01 CEST
Leader of Germany's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and CDU/CSU party union candidate for chancellor Armin Laschet addresses the congress of the joint youth organisation of the CDU and CSU
Leader of Germany's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and CDU/CSU party union candidate for chancellor Armin Laschet addresses the congress of the joint youth organisation of the CDU and CSU in Munster, on October 16th, 2021. (Photo by Ina Fassbender / AFP)

The CDU’s 16 years in power came to an end in the September ballot when it garnered only 24.1 percent of the vote.

“The responsibility for this result lies with me as leader and candidate for the chancellorship,” Laschet told the CDU’s Young Christian Democrats Congress in Munster.

The Social Democrats won the most votes and on Friday announced a preliminary deal to form a new coalition government with the Greens and the free-market liberal FDP.

READ ALSO: Germany’s Social Democrats, Greens and FDP aim to form new government

READ ALSO: KEY POINTS: What Germany’s three parties in coalition talks have agreed

If an agreement is reached, the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz should succeed Merkel as chancellor.

Laschet said the conservatives should now prepare to enter the opposition in the Bundestag, a position they have not had since 2005.

Laschet also said he would soon leave his position as president of the North Rhine-Westphalia region, the heartland of the CDU.

He called for a renewal of the party, through a generational change in leadership and greater involvement of women.

Laschet also urged greater unity within the CDU, a call echoed by Health Minister Jens Spahn who spoke of a “a crisis of cohesion”.

Spahn, 41, put himself forward as a candidate to “shape this new CDU”, adding that it was for “the generation after Merkel to accept its responsibilities”.

A day earlier, another potential candidate for the party, the ultraliberal Friedrich Merz, had warned that the CDU was “on the verge of collapse”.

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POLITICS

German president decries ‘violence’ in politics after attacks

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Thursday he was worried by the growing trend of violence towards politicians after a series of attacks on lawmakers at work or on the campaign trail.

Published: 23 May 2024 14:29 CEST
German president decries 'violence' in politics after attacks

“We must never get used to violence in the battle of political opinions,” Steinmeier said at an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the German constitution.

The basic law, promulgated in 1949, was a response to Germany’s experience with political violence during World War II, Steinmeier said.

“No one knew better than the mothers and fathers of the constitution how violence undermines a democracy and tears down its foundations,” Steinmeier said.

READ ALSO: ‘Grundgesetz’ – what does Germany’s Basic Law really mean?

The threat of political violence had again reared its head in Germany, the president said.

“We have received news of physical attacks on elected officials and politically active people almost every day,” he said.

“I am deeply concerned about the coarsening of political life in our country.”

READ ALSO: How politically motivated crimes are rising in Germany 

Earlier this month, police arrested a man on suspicion of hitting a former mayor of Berlin in the head during a visit to a public library.

Franziska Giffey, who is now the Berlin state economy minister and a member of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), was treated in hospital for light injuries.

Giffey’s assault came just days after a European member of parliament, also from the SPD, had to be hospitalised after four people attacked him while he was out canvassing.

READ ALSO: Why are German politicians facing increasing attacks?

Senior members of the government have also been confronted by angry mobs in recent months, with Economy Minister Robert Habeck blocked from leaving a ferry by a group of protesters.

In his speech, Steinmeier also recalled the politically motivated murder of the conservative politician Walter Luebcke by neo-Nazis in 2019.

“His death is a reminder of how hate can turn into violence,” Steinmeier said.

This week also saw proceedings open against the alleged ringleaders of a group who are said to have planned to storm the German parliament and overthrow the government.

The group of so-called Reichsbuerger, who deny the legitimacy of the modern German republic, allegedly planned to take MPs hostage and had compiled “lists of enemies” to be eliminated, according to prosecutors.

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