Federal election 2021: what exactly is the Union?

Updated: 09/27/202106:28

• fromAndreas Schmid

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For a long time the Union provided the head of government in Germany? But what is actually understood by the party alliance?

Berlin – In the course of the federal election in 2021, there is often talk of the Union. “SPD one percentage point ahead of the Union” it said about Merkur.de on election day. But what is actually meant by the term?

Federal election 2021: Union as an amalgamation of CDU and CSU

The Union is understood as the merger of the two sister parties CDU and CSU. The term “sister party” means parties with a very similar content orientation with simultaneous independence. Means: CDU and CSU have their own party leaders and their own content-related program, but are similar in their political attitudes.

Incidentally, both parties already have the term “Union” in their names. The Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union will operate as a union in the 2021 federal election. The CDU / CSU is also often mentioned. Incidentally, the CSU and CDU were founded in quick succession. The CDU on June 26, 1945 and the CSU on October 13, 1945. (Scholz or Laschet? You can get the latest forecasts and first results in our politics newsletter.)

Union: Bavaria and Germany – merger of CDU / CSU

The biggest difference between the two sister parties is their local home. Because the CSU only competes in Bavaria. It is a one-state party, similar to the Südschleswigsche Voters’ Association, which only competes in Schleswig-Holstein – and could move into the Bundestag. In Bavaria, the CSU is traditionally the strongest party. Since 1957 it has appointed the Bavarian Prime Minister every time. The current head of government of the Free State is Markus Söder, who is also chairman of the party. The chairman of the CDU is Armin Laschet, after Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Chancellor Angela Merkel for many years.

The CDU can meanwhile be elected in the rest of Germany. She does not run in Bavaria. In the federal election, the results of the CDU and the CSU are evaluated together. In other words, the CDU also benefits from a good performance by the CSU. After a strong result in 2013, however, the CDU / CSU has recently lost percentage points – presumably also in the 2021 federal election.

Union: The last results of the CDU / CSU in federal elections

2017	32.9%
2013	41.5%
2009	33.8%
2005	35.2%
2002	38.5%

Federal election 2021: CSU chancellor candidates – run twice, lost twice

The relationship between the CDU and CSU is quite tense. There are always disputes between the sister parties. Most recently, for example, when CSU boss Markus Söder would have liked to be chosen as a joint candidate for chancellor, but the CDU leadership then decided in favor of their party leader Armin Laschet. Franz Josef Strauss (1980) and Edmund Stoiber (2002) thus remain the only CSU politicians who have run as candidates for chancellor in a federal election for the Union. Both failed due to challengers from the SPD. (as)

source https://pledgetimes.com/federal-election-2021-what-exactly-is-the-union/