Armin Lassett: Who is the candidate for chancellor of the Christian Union who won the anointing νοντας losing

THE Armin Lassett has five months to prove he was right to insist on leading one of the Christian Union (CDU / CSU) most critical election campaigns. Although he overturned all predictions, prevailing in the battle for anointing, everyone already considers him a loser.. And in the battle that began yesterday with the horizon on September 26, he has mostly reluctant supporters who will just sing the need for philotimia.

“Devalued status quo”

Three months ago, the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia became the leader of the Christian Democratic Party, Germany’s largest party in power since 2005. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung he then spoke about “Victory of the discredited establishment”, as Armin Lassett was constantly drowning in polls, with public opinion clearly showing that he clearly preferred his opponent Friedrich Mertz. The decision, however, was not made by the public, or even by the party base, but by the 1,001 delegates, for whom their own insecurities probably counted the most, in front of a roller coaster who shouted that he “wanted to change everything”. despite the world. The party mechanisms triumphed. Mr. Lassett, the “eternally underestimated” of politics, as described by the magazine Spiegel, stood up once again.

If in January the election of the leader was ultimately a matter of 1,001 people, the choice of the candidate for chancellor was a matter for 46 top executives of the Christian Democratic Party. The inability of Armin Lasset and Markus Zender, the leader of the Christian Socialists (CSU) in Bavaria, to come to terms with each other in order for one of them to run for chancellor, has turned into a dangerous farce that has deeply hurt the of party sisters. On the one hand, its leader CDU who considered the largest party “entitled” to nominate the candidate for chancellor, on the other hand the CSU leader who was encouraged by the polls who wanted him to be overwhelmingly ahead of his opponent and in the middle the Christian Democrat MPs, who will count all day lose their jobs on September 26, if the Christian Union loses strength or if – even worse – loses. The latter saw Mr. Zender as a lifeline and were even ready to turn their backs on their leader.

“Blackmail”

But Armin Lassett may be unpopular, but he is not naive. Throughout the consultation, he did everything in his power to prevent the anointing decision from being referred to the Parliamentary Group or local party organizations. In the end, the decision was made by the 46 members of the CDU presidency. “Suggest me or you lose me as a leader” and a new one should be elected: he was the “blackmail“, According to Spiegel, and from the result, it is clear that he was successful: Armin Lasset is a candidate for Chancellor,” with Zenter’s pity “.

Mr. Lassett’s call for unity, after Marcus Zeder had abandoned his own ambitions, sounded logical, but for the time being very theoretical. The same goes for the good words for his former opponent, whom he said he was determined to consult “even twice a day” in the near future. “His job now is to prove that he can unite the parties,” said Tilman Kuban, the CDU’s youth leader, who had unequivocally sided with Marcus Zender.

Not just friends anymore

At the same time, the new rival, the Greens, whose breath the Union now feels strongly in the polls, behaved in exactly the opposite way to nominate their own candidate for Chancellor. The two leaders, Analena Berbock and Robert Hubek, they communicated with each other quietly, unitedly and smoothly. Mr Habeck not only gave the lead to his co-chair, but also wrote a letter to party members explaining why she was the most suitable candidate.

But leaving aside image and behavior issues, Armin Lassett will soon have to come up with positions that will not only unite his party, but also provide answers to the country’s problems. Yesterday he stated that after the end of “Merkel era“, Things can not be left” as they are “. However, at every opportunity he emphasizes that he intends to defend the physical space of the CDU, the center. In 2015 he strongly supported the refugee policy implemented by Angela Merkel, but in 2017 his election campaign focused on issues of internal security and asylum abuse. Earlier, when he was Minister of Integration in North Rhine-Westphalia, he had “earned” the nicknames “TurkoArmin” or “Armin Pasha”, due to his liberal attitude towards immigrants, while in 2014 he received harsh criticism in Germany, when he addressed via Twitter to then-Secretary of State John Kerry, alleging that America was supporting the Islamic State and al-Nusra against President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

In general, as AMPE broadcasts, its positions on the major issues of the country, the transition to the digital age, climate change, international trade competition, have so far been dictated by clear localization criteria. He opposed the chancellor’s policy of de-lignification precisely because the interests of his region were different, and often reiterated that “climate policies should not lead the economy to suffocation”. A possible post-election coexistence with the Greens will obviously require large reciprocal concessions – among other things, because during yesterday, his first appearance in his new capacity, he hastened to remind that after the pandemic of the new coronavirus, the budgets must be combined.

A former journalist, member of parliament, MEP, state minister and prime minister of Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Lassett boasted that he had only made friends. After the anointing process, however, he probably still can’t claim the same. The “enemies” are now in his own camp.

And they will only wait until September 26th.