CSU before party congress: Has Söder probed his chances of chance with the boys?

The recently ended Germany Day of the Young Union was also a show run of the two Union politicians, whose names are most likely to fall when speculating about a chancellor exchange: Hendrik Wüst, CDU Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Markus Söder, his counterpart from Bavaria. The tenor of the reports from Bonn was that the CSU chief had rocked the hall rather than desert. Only a few hours later, the portal “Table.Briefings” came up with a report, according to which Söder had met in the week after the state election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with members of the Bundestag of the young group of CDU and CSU in Berlin. According to the report, it was already suggested in advance via various channels from Bavaria to MPs that the Prime Minister was ready to take on leadership. Söder sees the great dissatisfaction with Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), but he will not recommend himself again. He must be called, so the alleged message. Söder had explored his chances to inherit Chancellor Merz. Certainly no secret conspiratorial meeting The fact that the meeting took place is guaranteed, it is neither disputed by Söder nor from his environment. CSU Secretary General Martin Huber said on Monday after a Board meeting at the request of the F.A.Z., such a “contentual exchange” with “parliamentary groups” was “always part of it”. However, different versions are disseminated about how the meeting was scheduled. While “Table.Briefings” writes about the allegedly “confidential meeting” that Söder had invited himself at short notice, this is disputed from his environment. Member of the Bundestag Konrad Körner, the only CSU member in the Junge Gruppe, also emphasizes to the F.A.Z. that firstly he had invited Söder (guests are usual at the meetings of the Junge Gruppe), secondly the appointment agreement comes from the summer and thirdly the appointment posted on Instagram was certainly “no secret conspiratorial meeting”. Congruent are the representations that Söder, unlike many other guests, had been very well prepared, even knew in which committees the young members sit. However, there are different reports on the content of the conversation. Korn has perceived according to his own information that Söder’s appearance, which several members of parliament had experienced for the first time in personal conversation, is unusual for some in the CDU socialized. But Söder did not say anything that he would not say in a talk show. Not the first time that Söder relies on the JU “Table.Briefings”, however, writes that Söder had “many” disappointed. Among other things, this had to do with his statements on Ukraine – which had left the impression that he had no strategy on important foreign policy issues so far. Abroad, he said, interlocutors had asked him why Germany did not play a “more mediating role” between Russia and Ukraine. He asked whether the support of the population was crumbling. As if he himself doubted it. Participants have irritated, so “Table.Briefings”. In fact, Söder had already spoken at a CSU board meeting recently similar. The time of publication – so shortly after the JU-Deutschlandtag, a few days before the CSU party congress starting on Friday – is spicy. In the environment of the CSU headquarters, where the party met on Monday for the Board meeting, the question was formulated: “Cui bono?” On the other hand: It would not be the first time that Söder sees in the Junge Union an instrument to create a mood in his favor. In 2017/2018, he succeeded in pushing Horst Seehofer to withdraw from the office of Prime Minister. Last year, Söder used Merz’s failed performance to discreetly side with the boys. Although he vowed that he would not fall Merz in the back, he also said in the direction of pension rebels: “I think you already have good arguments, and you have to consider and heed them.” Just in the week in which the meeting with the Junge Gruppe apparently took place, Söder announced that he brought Manuel Knoll, the head of JU Bayern, to the State Chancellery, as Minister of State for Youth and Democracy. This had also been interpreted as a measure to discipline the sometimes slightly rebellious tuber. But it could also have been a pointer to the Young Group. What about the famous content? At the weekend in Bonn, Söder got a lot of applause for his attacks on the possibly forming red-green-red alliance in Berlin. “If you talk about firewalls, then you need one to the left,” said the Bavarian Prime Minister. A few weeks earlier, at the Gillamoos People's Festival, he had said with reference to the AfD: A purely formal debate, always just saying 'fire wall', does not help! Let’s put them in content! In the ARD program “Maischberger” he added a day later: “Just to say ‘fire wall, fire wall, fire wall’ – that will not work, the concept has failed.” On the F.A.Z. question, whether Söder’s abgesang refers to the firewall only to the AfD or to the concept as a whole, Secretary General Huber did not want to express himself clearly on Monday. He referred, among other things, to the lead motion for the congress, which states: “Radical parties from the left deserve the same critical scrutiny as radical parties from the right.”