Paul Ziemiak becomes the new Secretary General of the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia. At a meeting on Monday evening in Düsseldorf, the state executive supported a corresponding proposal by state chairman and prime minister Hendrik Wüst, as a party spokesman said. The “Rheinische Post” had previously reported on it.
The former general secretary of the federal CDU should therefore immediately take up his new work as general secretary on an interim basis. For the official appointment, however, a party congress resolution is still required. Such a one will not take place until next year. Ziemiak has been in the Bundestag for the CDU since 2017 – and remains a member of parliament in Berlin as NRW Secretary General. “That has no effect on his mandate,” said a spokesman for the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Generation change in the CDU
Ziemiak is “a solution for the future, he stands for the generation change in the CDU. And he is an important part of our NRW team around Friedrich Merz in Berlin,” Wüst is quoted as saying in a statement from the state party.
The 37-year-old Ziemiak was the national chairman of the Junge Union from 2014 to 2018. From 2018 he was Secretary General of the CDU, and in January 2022 he was replaced by Mario Czaja, who was supported by CDU leader Friedrich Merz.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, he succeeds Josef Hovenjürgen, who resigned as Secretary General after being appointed Parliamentary State Secretary in June.
Ziemiak was born in Stettin, Poland, and came to North Rhine-Westphalia at the age of three. He lives in Iserlohn. He was a member of the city council for five years. He is also familiar with political work in North Rhine-Westphalia from his time as state chairman of the Junge Union from 2012 to 2014.
The CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia also announced on Monday that Thomas Breuer would become the party’s state manager. Breuer led the CDU election campaign in the state elections in May. According to the CDU announcement, Ziemiak said he was looking forward to the exciting task. Together with Breuer, he wants to build on the success of winning the state election and further modernize the party.
