German conservatives anxious to project internal cohesion

The historic loss of Germany’s conservative union of CDU/CSU has put the party in second place behind Olaf Scholz’s SPD. Down 9% relative to 2017, many party members have lost their seat in the Bundestag, which in turn has the party seething internally as it must elect a leader for its parliamentary faction.

But not all is lost for the German conservatives as they might get to govern Germany from second place. The SPD did this twice in the late 60s and the early 70s, as the largest party must not necessarily govern.

They could create a so-called “Jamaica” coalition with the liberal FDP and the Greens, excluding election winner Scholz from the government.

However, to have a chance at being in government, the conservative Union must show stability despite the current infighting and calls for chancellor hopeful Armin Laschet to resign.

The internal struggle would also raise questions as regards the post of faction leader in the Bundestag.

Traditionally, the chancellor hopeful of a party forced into opposition assumes the post, while the party in government has someone else fill the position. The CDU/CDU, now torn between fighting to be in government or humbly accepting their role in opposition, is a hard line to toe and shows in awkward and new compromises.

The post of faction leader is generally awarded for a year, making Tuesday’s intra-party compromise to award it to incumbent faction leader Ralph Brinkhaus for six months to ensure some degree of stability rather unexpected.

“This … is a strong sign of the unity we need now,” said Laschet on Tuesday as he announced the compromise he had forged with CSU chief Markus Söder behind closed doors.

Brinkhaus was elected with 85% of the vote as the sole candidate by the party faction late on Tuesday; his challengers had held back to show that the conservative’s ranks were closed.

“We are fully operational,” said Brinkhaus after winning the vote, adding that it was important to show unity.

For Laschet, whom many in the party blamed for the loss of their number one position, or more personally, for the loss of their Bundestag seats, the compromise is a ray of hope. Else,  he may face a future as a back-bencher should he fail to make it into the chancellery. This could see the post of faction head awarded to one of his rivals before the coalition negotiations began.

Should the conservatives fail to form a “Jamaica” coalition to sideline the SPD, Laschet may have a second chance at becoming the leader of what would be a powerful opposition faction.

(Nikolaus J. Kurmayer  | EURACTIV.de)