With this political earthquake had been expected in Berlin, nobody: The Confidant of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, Volker Kauder, has to give the group the chairmanship of the CDU and the CSU in the outsiders, Ralph brinkhaus.
Angela Merkel around talking drum, as it goes after the meeting in front of the cameras. You called the election result for Volker Kauder, a “defeat,” and adds that “there is nothing to whitewash”. The man who organized her for 13 years in the parliamentary group of the majority, is voted out of office. A “lesson of democracy” says Merkel.
Merkel’s power base is crumbling
Actually had expected before the election, hardly anyone with this result. While there are already longer critics of Angela Merkel in the fraction of CDU and CSU, but that there is a majority against its candidates, excluded rail. Merkel had campaigned in the session “from the heart” for Kauder.
Merkel and Kauder have for many years worked closely together
Then the Chancellor says, they have worked for him, because they “have worked very, very well” with him. This is still formulated cautious. In fact, the baden-württemberg CDU Deputy Kauder for Merkel was a safe Bank. For his years of undisputed position in the group and his loyalty to the Chancellor were important pillar of Merkel’s power base.
Kauders successor is not only significantly younger but also less well-known. The Westphalian Ralph Brinkhaus is considered to be excellent budget politicians – in Public, he was perceived, but still: “Ralph who?” had overwritten a lot of media their brink house-article in advance. Now the accountant is one of the most important politicians of Germany.
“Ralph who?”
This brinkhaus had not worked before the election like a man who advertises most recent trailer. Pretty relaxed, he stood in the rear of the group room, chatted longer with the same two, three members. In the run-up to the brink, and the house had advertised openly for supporters, was neither the candidate of a certain flow is still a land Association in the group.
The newly-elected Ralph Brinkhaus is happy “huge”
After the election, the 50-year-old stands with folded hands in front of the group hall and and says: “I am very happy”. The more emotions there are, instead, brinkhaus promises to work to “challenging projects” to tackle. As a good winner, he praises his predecessor, Kauder, and then announce that will you now look “forward together”.
Volker Kauder: disillusionment after the group choice
Volker Kauder has been a lot of applause in the group room. Silently he had taken the result of to the attention. Only 112 votes for him 125 votes for Ralph Brinkhaus. He congratulates brink’s house. The deputies stand up, clap for Kauder. The electoral defeat of the 69-year-old is a turning point for the Conservatives.
The group wants to be independent
And it is a turning point, the means for Angela Merkel, an incision. They, too, congratulated brink’s house, offers him a “good cooperation”, as she says later. Talking with Union members, as many expect a “more independent group work”. With Brinkhaus, you can expect more private profile – less agents of the government, the Bundestag want to be members.
The other parties see in the deselection Kauders a tremendous weakening of the Chancellor. Thomas Oppermann, for many years, the social-democratic counterpart of Kauder and now the Bundestag, Vice-President, writes on Twitter: “This is a revolt against Merkel.”
So, it looks as expected, and also the Opposition. While AfD group orsitzende Alice ryegrass says that in your party “pop the Cork,” says the FDP politician Alexander Graf Lambsdorff from the “loss of authority” of Merkel. For the Left, the deselection Kauders is a sign that the “System Merkel comes to an end”. For Green party leader, Anton Hofreiter, the result is that the Conservative last, the “conflicts” were covers.