Who is Merz, the right-wing member of the CDU that Laschet indicates as the super-ministerial candidate for the German economy

1 September 20213 years ago babelfish

Laschet, chancellor candidate of the CDU and CSU for the Bundestag elections on September 26, presented Merz, a right-wing member of the CDU, as super-minister of Finance and the Economy in the event of a victory

The president of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU), Armin Laschet, candidate chancellor of his party and of the Christian-Social Union (CSU) for the Bundestag elections on 26 September, presented Friedrich Merz, a member of the right of the CDU , as "super minister" of Finance and Economy in a federal government with his own leadership.

Laschet defined Merz, already his opponent in the race for the presidency of the CDU, "the economic and financial face that will also shape federal politics after the elections". The president of the CDU added: "We are determined and in agreement on this".

As the Handelsblatt newspaper notes, Merz is the only CDU and CSU representative to whom Laschet has promised a government post if he is appointed chancellor. This could be taken from the need for president of the CDU to regain support, in the face of his collapse in the polls in favor of the candidate Spd Scholz .

WHO IS MERZ AND WHAT DOES MERZ THINK: short excerpt from a Start article when Merz was a candidate for the leadership of the CDU

Clear and clear closure to the right, towards any possible collaboration with Afd, the nationalist party (today the term sovereign is more fashionable) which has also grown by exploiting the conservative electoral space, according to Merz neglected by the Merkelian CDU.

Merz reaffirms the centrist course of the party, assures that he does not want to move it to the right by a millimeter, but simply that he wants to broaden its spectrum, give voice and space even to that more conservative section of the electorate that has no longer felt represented by the CDU and which only it is capable of integrating into a democratic process. We realized – he added – that democracy in Germany is not as consolidated as we believed from a Western point of view until reunification.

Merz is convinced that the party needs a clear and strong profile, recognizable again for what it is and for what it wants, with a renewed staff that elaborates a well-defined idea of the role of Germany in the coming years. A party naturally ready for compromises but also for conflicts, discussions, confrontation of ideas with political allies and opponents. It is one of the many breaking points with Merkel's twenty years, perhaps the most important: a party of recognized principles, values and positions that are the compass of future policies and alliances, not a large container with indefinite contents, modeled according to opportunities. contingents.

This is the core of Merz's “conservatism”: the return to politics as a firm reference of values and principles from which party action can spring, not as a daily and flexible management of problems as they arise. But that this model is the most suitable to face the challenges of these times has to be proved.

In addition to having to shake off the German Trump brand, Merz must in fact convince the delegates of his party that he is not a protagonist now outdated by the times, tied to an idea of politics no longer suitable for facing contemporary crises. This is why he speaks of Europe and the USA, of transatlantic relations and NATO, with different hints than Macron's millenarianisms: Biden's election offers Europeans the opportunity to return to discuss common interests and to strengthen our multilateral institutions , argues Merz, but NATO is not dead. We need major reforms and a solid European pillar within the Alliance. The US and Europe will still, and for a long time, be mutually dependent on security issues.

Merz speaks above all of China, "frequented for a long time in the professional years spent outside politics". China for a long time underestimated. The rapid dynamics and nature of its capacity for innovation have not been understood. We have not understood the way in which a Communist party plans its innovative strategies. The authoritarian regimes have time on their side, they plan for the long term, they do not have the constraints of short electoral horizons. The only two things they have to do are: keep power and leave enough free space for the economy. This is what Beijing has done, and now with the Silk Road it unrolls a global and imperial strategy in front of Europe.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/chi-e-merz-il-destro-della-cdu-che-laschet-indica-come-candidato-superministro-delleconomia-tedesco/ on Wed, 01 Sep 2021 06:25:31 +0000.