Stuttgart (dpa) – In view of the rather modest polls, Baden-Württemberg’s CDU top candidate Susanne Eisenmann called on her party to be more self-confident 50 days before the state elections. “We also have to like ourselves,” said the Minister of Education on Saturday in her speech at the online party congress of the Southwest CDU. If you don’t like yourself, you won’t be elected. “I advise you to exude a certain serenity.” The new CDU boss Armin Laschet and Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) encouraged the Southwest CDU – they hope for a tailwind for the federal elections in autumn.
Not an easy task for Eisenmann
After the election on March 14, Eisenmann wants to be the first female Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg to replace the Green Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann. The Southwest CDU, which led the government in Baden-Württemberg for decades until 2011, is currently a junior partner in a coalition with the Greens. In the most recent polls, the Union is either on par with the Greens or five percentage points behind them. In direct comparison with Kretschmann, Eisenmann is far behind in terms of popularity. There could also be a traffic light coalition made up of the Greens, the SPD and the FDP.
Laschet comes out as a Merz fan
In his speech on Saturday, Laschet distributed praise for the leadership of the state party. If the prime minister in the south-west is not “quite as typical as the other Greens”, then it is also because CDU people put him on the right track. In the core areas of education, internal security as well as economy and work, the profile is shaped by CDU ministers. Minister of Education Eisenmann succeeded in mediating between the various interests of students, parents and teachers during the Corona period. A victory for Eisenmann would be an “upswing” for the federal election at the end of September.
Laschet called on the state party to support him in the federal election. “That is only possible if we all stand together.” The state CDU had supported the economic expert Friedrich Merz in the struggle for the CDU chairmanship. Of course, he knows that many in the state CDU are Merz fans, said Laschet. “I’m also a Friedrich Merz fan.” The CDU needs Merz and those who have supported him. Laschet also needs a tailwind from the southwest to assert himself against CSU leader Markus Söder as the Union’s candidate for chancellor.
A Bavarian compares Kretschmann with Bayern Munich
Söder spoke courage to the Southwest CDU via video message. “I get on well with Winfried Kretschmann, I say that explicitly. But still: everything has its time, and maybe there will be a new era in Baden-Württemberg. ” Kretschmann is popular, but not unbeatable. The CSU boss added: “Bayern Munich can also lose if you choose the right tactics and the right strategy.” The Südwest-CDU has everything it needs to win the election. What the Bavarian didn’t say: Bayern Munich have always been champions in the Bundesliga for the past eight years.
100 percent for 100 points
In the vote on the 100-point government program, the state CDU was unanimous: the program “New ideas for a new era – Unleashing BaWü” was accepted with 100 percent. However, only 236 of the 310 delegates who had actually registered had voted, two abstained. At the CDU, abstentions are not counted. Among other things, the CDU wants to make more money for families, internal security and the expansion of the fast Internet. Family benefits should be paid regardless of income, job and the type of care. The Baukindergeld is to be extended – even if the federal government should withdraw from funding at the end of March. The real estate transfer tax is to be reduced from five to 3.5 percent. The Christian Democrats want to expand the fiber optic cable network in the country with another 1.5 billion euros. A separate digitization ministry is also planned. In addition, the CDU wants to strengthen the police. According to this, there should be 1400 recruits per year.
Eisenmann does not see an election campaign in their efforts to open schools
The Minister of Education rejected the accusation that she was doing campaign maneuvers in education policy. As minister of education, she is criticized by teachers, parents and associations. You now have to take a more thorough look at the children than in the spring, she said, who has been campaigning for the opening of elementary schools and daycare centers for weeks – and thus also opposes Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). “It has nothing to do with the election campaign.”
But Eisenmann is under pressure – this course also causes unrest in the CDU. The former ministerial director and former government spokesman Hans Georg Koch resigned from the CDU after more than 40 years out of anger over Eisenmann. In a letter to the editor in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, the confidante of the former Prime Minister Erwin Teufel (1991-2005) accused Eisenmann of wanting to make political capital out of the Corona crisis.
Swipes at Kretschmann and the Greens
Eisenmann did not mention the name of her competitor Kretschmann in her speech and largely refrained from attacks on the 72-year-old. There was only one swipe: The next decade will decide «whether we find our way back to the top or settle down comfortably in a quiet, sleepy place. Whether Baden-Württemberg accepts the challenges of the future or only philosophizes about them at a high level and very intensively, ”she said, referring to the ethics teacher Kretschmann, who likes to quote the philosopher Hannah Arendt.
Eisenmann’s 41-minute speech was interpreted differently. Many a delegate had hoped for a liberation from the pressurized top candidate. “My impression was that it has stabilized,” said the Federal Deputy Head of the Christian Democratic Workers’ Union (CDA), Christian Bäumler. But not every delegate felt a spirit of optimism.
Another was aggressive
The attack department took over the CDU parliamentary group leader Wolfgang Reinhart. The Greens wanted a “governess state” that would patronize the people, called Reinhart. Kretschmann is a “shepherd without a herd”, his own federal party and the Green Youth are often “against Kretschmann”. But Reinhart received criticism from within his own ranks. “That is no longer the way we do politics – that we always hit the Greens,” criticized Bäumler of Reinhart’s speech.
At the end of the party congress, the CDU state chief and vice-minister-president Thomas Strobl said: “The Greens only have one idea and that is: Kretschmann.” After that there is not much left.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210123-99-140494 / 5
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