Markus Söder is still fundamentally prepared to accept the support of the Union parties as Candidate for Chancellor for next year’s federal election to have it set up.
“I just explained that one of the two is possible. could be me, but also Friedrich Merz, who of course can do it just as well“, said the Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU leader in the ZDF “heute journal” on Thursday evening when asked whether he was making a claim to the candidacy.
However, the CDU would have a “decisive role” in the questionwho will lead the election campaign for the Union parties, said Söder. The Union has several “very good candidates”. At the moment, still in the decision phase. “The idea is not so absurd that one could consider that we have several good candidates.”
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The Union’s key goal is to replace the traffic light coalition. “That is the top priority and I am ready to do it, whether as Prime Minister or candidate for Chancellor, either one. In the end, we will do it together and well together – regardless of vanity and egos.”
For me, being Prime Minister is the best job, but I would not shy away from taking responsibility for our country.
Markus SöderBavarian Prime Minister and CSU leader, at the Gillamoos folk festival
Already on Monday at the Gillamoos folk festival in Abensberg, Bavaria, Söder let his ambitions shine through. “For me, being prime minister is the most beautiful office, but I would not shy away from taking responsibility for our country,” he said in the festival tent.
Söder ahead in polls
The CDU and CSU will have to decide between themselves who will ultimately be the Union’s candidate for chancellor. However, there is a clear preference among the population.
According to the ARD Deutschlandtrend, eligible voters consider CSU leader Markus Söder to be the most suitable candidate. Söder is also ahead of CDU leader Friedrich Merz and North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) among Union supporters.
However, among the 1,309 eligible voters surveyed, scepticism prevails regarding all three candidates. 41 percent believe Söder is a good candidate for chancellor for the Union3 percentage points more than in August (No: 48 percent), as Infratest-dimap determined for ARD. 33 percent believe Wüst will succeed (minus three points; No: 35, the rest unsure). For Merz, the figure is only 23 percent (minus four; No: 63).
Among Union supporters, the order at the bottom is different, but Söder is still at the top. 57 percent see him as a good candidate for chancellor for the CDU/CSU (No: 37), for Merz it is 48 percent (No: 43), for Wüst 43 percent (No: 32, the rest unsure).
Merz and Söder have agreed to decide the question in late summerafter the state elections in East Germany, of which Brandenburg is still pending on September 22. Merz said on Thursday: “Markus Söder and I will talk about it in the near future.” Of course, there will also be talks with the state leaders of the CDU. “And at the end of the day, the two party leaders of the CDU and CSU will make a joint proposal, which they will then implement together.” (Tsp, dpa)
