“Don’t forget to vote for me?” CDU member Deftlef Gürth hands out flyers, pens and bottles of water at the weekly market in Aschersleben, East Germany. Now and then someone comes to chat, often Gürth knows the people by name. Not surprising, because he has been in the parliament of Saxony-Anhalt for more than thirty years for the Christian Democrats. He has been politically active here since the unification. Gürth is happy that the corona figures are going well and that he can be among the people again, yet campaigning is difficult for him this year.
For the first time in his career, he is afraid of losing his seat, to the competitor of the Alternative für Deutschland. The AfD already had a surprisingly good result in Saxony-Anhalt five years ago and the right-wing populists are again doing well in the polls, they could even become the biggest. According to Gürth, this is also due to the state of his party: “Under Merkel, the conservative profile of the CDU has been wiped out. They no longer know what we stand for. Many people say to me: I do not recognize the party again.”
Identity Crisis
The CDU, the largest party in Europe’s largest economy, is in an identity crisis. The German Christian Democrats are not sure which way to go now that Merkel is leaving the political scene and the party after more than 15 years as Chancellor.
The man who wants to take over Merkel’s helm, Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet, is caught between two fires. At the national level, the Greens are the biggest competitor. The CDU has made the energy transition and the fight against climate change one of the most important spearheads. But the party also has to face the challenger on the other flank: in the east of the country, the right-wing populist AfD is breathing down the Christian Democrats.
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