HAMBURG: AnnegretKramp-Karrenbauer, the new leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's ChristianDemocrats, sought to bind the party together after a divisive leadership battleby promoting a rival's ally to a key post yesterday. Delegates from theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) elected Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, on Friday toreplace Merkel as party leader, a decision that moves her into pole position tosucceed Europe's most influential leader as chancellor.
Kramp-Karrenbauer,the continuity candidate favored by the party elite, won a narrow victory overthe more conservative Friedrich Merz in a run-off. Health Minister Jens Spahn,also a more conservative candidate, was knocked out in a first round. Yesterday,Kramp-Karrenbauer proposed Paul Ziemiak, head of the Junge Union, theconservatives' youth wing, to replace her as CDU secretary general - a role inwhich he will organize the party, election campaigns and congresses, andsupport her.
Party delegatesduly elected Ziemiak, 33, but with just 62.8 percent of the votes cast - a farnarrower margin than the overwhelming 98.9 percent support with whichKramp-Karrenbauer was elected to the secretary general post in February. Afterthe bruising leadership election, Ziemiak and other leading CDU officialssought to rally the party. "Now the task is to renew the party with aclear course and clear communication," Ziemiak said. "Let's believetogether and let's win together!"
The tight natureof Ziemiak's victory reflected the divisions in the CDU after a robust campaignfor the leadership. Kramp-Karrenbauer's first job as new party leader is to tryto unite the CDU ahead of European and regional elections in 2019. "PaulZiemiak is from the home region of Friedrich Merz. He's a close friend, fromthe Junge Union, of Jens Spahn," David McAllister, a member of the CDU'sexecutive committee, told Reuters. "So this move to choose Paul Ziemiak isa step forward by Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, trying to unite the differentcamps which the endorsed the three different candidates," he added.
However, the movequickly drew criticism from some. "I am not going to hide that I wouldhave liked a secretary general from the east," Ingo Senftleben,Brandenburg CDU chief, told the NBR media group. He said Kramp-Karrenbauer mustfulfill her promise to pay attention to the east before three state electionsthere next year.
Bridge builder
Merkel needsKramp-Karrenbauer to unite the CDU to help steady her ruling coalition with thecenter-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) - an awkward alliance that has comeclose to collapse several times since being formed in March. After a series ofelectoral setbacks, Kramp-Karrenbauer must use her ability to reach beyondparty lines to shore up the CDU. The party bled support to the far-rightAlternative for Germany (AfD) in last September's federal election and is alsolosing support to the Greens, who are now running second in national pollsbehind the Christian Democrats.
In October, theCDU lost over 10 percentage points in a state election in Hesse. Merkelannounced she would stand down as party leader after that damaging result.Kramp-Karrenbauer is a renowned bridge-builder - a skill set that helped winher the party leadership, and in her home state of Saarland, where she led anexperimental three-way coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats and theGreens.
Merkel's decisionto stand down as CDU leader is part of her slow, stage-managed exit frompolitics. She wants to remain chancellor until the next federal election, dueby October 2021 and should be able to work comfortably with Kramp-Karrenbauer.However, some commentators have suggested that with her preferred candidate incharge of the party, Merkel may decide she could step down early and leaveGermany in her hands. - Reuters