SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich went into the struggles in the Union after the CDU / CSU election debacle. “Of course the Union faction is now going through difficult hours,” said Mützenich. But it is important that Parliament then also has an opposition. Mützenich said: “The country does not belong to a CDU / CSU.” The country belongs to the citizens who voted for Scholz. This Wednesday, Mützenich is standing for re-election to the 206 members of the new SPD parliamentary group. A very good result is expected.
For Armin Laschet, it’s about political survival
The re-elected Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus assumes that Armin Laschet does not want to become parliamentary group chairman if the Union ends up in the opposition. “Armin Laschet will certainly not run for chairman of the parliamentary group if we go into the opposition,” said Brinkhaus on Tuesday evening in the ARD “Tagesthemen”. “In this respect, I’m not a placeholder and I don’t feel that way either.” Brinkhaus was re-elected in the evening with 85 percent of the votes in the Union parliamentary group – but only until the end of April and not, as usual, for a year. Instead, Laschet will take care of the party if the Union does not rule, Brinkhaus said. “As a party chairman, you’re pretty busy.”
Should the Union actually have to go into the opposition after its election defeat, the parliamentary group chairmanship would be the most important post that would remain. Armin Laschet had ruled out a return as Prime Minister to North Rhine-Westphalia before the election. Brinkhaus said in the “Tagesthemen” that the CDU and CSU are in agreement that the Greens and FDP now want to offer talks on a Jamaica coalition.
It is clear that the Union cannot make any claims after the defeat against the SPD. But a Jamaica coalition is another possible option alongside the traffic lights made up of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. The CDU / CSU fell to its historic low of 24.1 percent in the federal election. The SPD was the strongest force with 25.7 percent.
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