AWhen Friedrich Merz enters the hall, the light goes out. Spotlights find him again quickly. “Don’t stop me now,” Freddie Mercury roars from the speakers, while the CDU chairman walks toward the stage, shaking hands. Johannes Winkel is already waiting there. The newly elected chairman of the Junge Union (JU) claps along with the rhythm, it looks more dutiful than enthusiastic. He quickly leaves the stage to Merz.
Merz and Winkel come from South Westphalia and have known each other for years. And in fact, it seems as if the Arnsberger has adapted the style of his speech more to the foil style of the Kreuztaler than to the more robust tone of his predecessor Tilman Kuban.
The CDU leader expressly praises the security policy motion for “Germany Day”, in which the youth organization calls, among other things, for the Bundeswehr to be fully equipped as a prerequisite for the Union’s coalition talks at federal level. The eight-page document is “well-founded”, something that cannot be found in any other youth organization. Such praise goes down well with the three hundred or so delegates.
On Saturday, Merz is making strong the issues that Winkel wants to promote: intergenerational justice, but above all climate change. “No one in Germany should have any doubts that we take this issue seriously,” says Merz. But the Union must answer it differently than the SPD and the Greens. Innovation instead of bans, that’s how Winkel put it. And it sounds similar with Merz, who in the Esperantohalle not far from the Fulda train station not only tries to evoke Germany’s innovative strength with the help of the invention of the petrol and diesel engine, but also the spirit of the rubble generations that left Germany after the First and Second World Wars have rebuilt.
Merz: “Convert speeches” in Parliament
Frenetic applause breaks out when Friedrich Merz makes a confession at the request of a questioner and with a view to the World Cup in Qatar. “It’s not a state institution’s concern who we love.” The jubilation goes a bit far afield that Merz limits the commitment to “for us from Germany and everyone who lives here” instead of, as intended, the World Cup include venue Qatar.
And of course, like all speakers this weekend, Merz leathers against the traffic light government. Nothing has yet been issued from the special fund that is supposed to get the ailing Bundeswehr on its feet, there is “not a single order” and “not a single tender”. Instead, the upcoming readings of the federal budget will also be about a proposal that provides for a reduction in the defense budget. It’s “no coincidence, there’s a method,” says Merz. “Classic convert speeches” can be heard in Parliament. Traffic light politicians continue to have a troubled relationship with the armed forces.
The SPD in particular is on “a completely different trip”. That goes down well in the ranks of the delegates, in which hardly any tie wearers listen, but many women. In the dispute over citizen income, Merz called on the traffic light coalition to make concessions. “We expect this government to take a step, and a big step towards us, if we want to find a common solution for this so-called citizen’s income in the next few days and weeks.”
In this way, Merz engaged in a long-distance rhetorical duel with the Chancellor. In return, Olaf Scholz (SPD) attacked the Union at the Southwest SPD convention in Friedrichshafen. It was aloof and snooty that the CDU and CSU did not raise their hands “a little bit” when voting for a higher minimum wage, said Scholz. “That has absolutely nothing to do with ‘performance must be worthwhile’.” The increase in the minimum wage and the citizens’ allowance were among the central SPD promises before the most recent federal election.
In the case of the Junge Union in Fulda, there was only one regional resistance when Winkel presented Merz with a Hessian ornament as a farewell. “We both come from South Westphalia, where we usually drink Pils,” says the JU boss. He doesn’t know if you can drink the beer from it. “No!” a Hessian delegate shouted indignantly from the back rows. Merz looks surprised for a moment. Winkel reacts quickly: He is looking forward to coming to him, Merz, on the terrace in Arnsberg soon. Then Queen takes over again: “Don’t stop me now.” The delegates stand up. Applause.
