The chairman of the CDU branch in the German state of Thuringia, Mike Mohring, is also stepping down from that leadership role. Earlier, Mohring had already announced his intention to soon resign as regional political leader.
He came under pressure last week after his regional CDU faction, together with the far-right AfD, elected the liberal Kemmerich as state premier instead of the left-wing Bodo Ramelow. Cooperation with Alternative for Germany (AfD) is forbidden for the national CDU party.
The national party board was in an uproar because party members in the East German state had played into the hands of the AfD. The criticism even led to national party chairman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announcing that she will not be a candidate in 2021 to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel, and therefore no longer wishes to remain party chair. This has reopened the race for the CDU/CSU lead candidacy in the next elections.
For insiders, it had long been clear that AKK was no longer the obvious successor to Merkel. The chancellor herself did not hide her disappointment in her ‘crown princess’. Merkel also abandoned her intention to hand over the baton to AKK halfway through her term, so that she would have plenty of time to get settled in. Merkel ultimately chose to complete her full term until the fall of 2021.
Kramp-Karrenbauer reiterated that her successor as party chairman should also be the lead candidate for the elections. Both roles belong together, she said. ‘Otherwise, the CDU will be weakened by the open question of who the chancellor candidate is, precisely at a time when Germany needs a strong CDU.’ Critics interpreted this last remark as hidden criticism from AKK of Merkel for not stepping down midway.
The internal turmoil within the CDU also threatens to cast a shadow over the work of the federal government in Berlin. Merkel’s fourth government has become a loveless marriage of convenience with the Social Democratic SPD, which is completely unsettled and is fighting with the AfD for third place in the polls, behind the CDU and the Greens. Within the SPD, a strong faction wants to end the ‘grand coalition.’