It’s time for a new party
| Reading time: 2 minutes
WELT author Susanne Gaschke
Source: Martin UK Lengemann
Armin Laschet made the race for the CDU party chairmanship. The “Merkel machine” will continue to run as before – and with it the whole country. Nothing to feel of departure and new energy. We urgently need that. And the existing parties cannot deliver.
VThree weeks ago I said at this point that Friedrich Merz would become the new chairman of the CDU. I was wrong. The Merkel camp and the hesitant have mobilized all forces and made sure that with the Christian Democrats, with a narrow majority, everything continues as before. Above all, for ensuring that no one disturbs Angela Merkel in her actions.
I have no idea whether Merz would have made a good party chairman or a good chancellor (candidate). I don’t even know what he would have done – but that was exactly what his promise was.
It may be that he overcompensated and campaigned too strongly for his internal party opponents. But maybe it would have brought unrest to Merkel’s never-ending political system after all.
I believe that this was primarily the hope of his followers. And this is exactly what is urgently needed as never before in the history of the Federal Republic. Because we live in a country that is in fact without any opposition and that is beginning to break down because of the “lack of alternatives” in the situation.
In Corona times this is particularly visible – just as all grievances and inadequacies are now particularly visible, whether in care for the elderly, in the school system, in dealing with our inner cities or in the state of private relationships.
“We have to speak clearly, but not polarize”
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Armin Laschet warned against a further split in society in his application speech for the CDU chairmanship. He is also concerned about developments in the USA.
Nobody in their senses wants to be represented by the AfD. FDP and parts of the left are sometimes too cautious, sometimes too clumsy and at least not in demand in the media. And the Greens, in order to appear fit for government, behave so lovingly that one can sometimes feel uncomfortable.
Party with a cheerful promise for the future
So we need a new party? A party that considers the rule of law and constitutional loyalty to be important even under epidemic conditions? A party with a cheerful promise for the future – but this promise must not be called “socialism” or “national community”.
The best promise one could make today was: result orientation. Empirical interest in things. Persistence in real (and not just rhetorical) problem solving. A love for culture, for institutions, for companies, for the tasks that this country sets.
Good mood instead of bitter paternalism. A feeling of departure, because politics is possible, even if the grand coalition refuses to do so.
Already clear: That is mega naive. But maybe naivety is slowly the only thing that still helps.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/cdu-after-the-laschet-election-its-time-for-a-new-party-welt/
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