The Union's secret plan before new elections: Merz makes an internal announcement - and not only finds fans

Merkur The Union's secret plan before new elections: Merz makes an internal announcement - and not only finds fans Kilian Beck • 2 hours • 3 minutes reading time After the agreement on the date for the new elections, Olaf Scholz's government statement is due. The Union wants to show unity, and CSU leader Söder will also speak in the Bundestag. Berlin - On November 13, Olaf Scholz will make a government statement without a majority of his own. The Chancellor is therefore dependent on the Union until new elections in February. CDU leader Friedrich Merz is swearing his faction to his course: after his speech in the debate on the government statement, he wants long-lasting applause, but "please no howls of triumph" about the end of the traffic light coalition, he is said to have said in a confidential meeting in the faction executive committee, according to the Bild newspaper. Scholz demands cross-factional cooperation before new elections On Tuesday (November 12), the CDU and CSU explained what they still want to achieve before the new elections. Scholz wants to explain the current situation for half an hour on Wednesday, according to the Bundestag's announcement. In his last major speech, in which he announced the dismissal of FDP leader Christian Lindner from the federal government, Scholz blamed Lindner for his dismissal and the resulting coalition breakdown. Scholz called for cross-party cooperation on pressing issues. Date for new elections set - debate after Scholz's government statement The SPD and the Union agreed on a date for new elections on Tuesday (November 12): the new Bundestag is to be elected on February 23, 2025. For this to happen, Chancellor Scholz would have to ask the question of confidence on December 16 and not receive a majority. The question of confidence was the Union's condition for selective cooperation with the red-green minority government. The CDU and CSU were satisfied with the date. Now that the dispute over the date for the new elections has ended, the debate after Scholz's government statement could become a debate about what still needs to be done before the election date in view of the situation in Germany and the world. Merz wants a "constructive" Union - Söder speaks after Scholz in the Bundestag Until the new elections, Merz wants the Union to behave "constructively" - in other words, to work together on certain issues with the SPD and the Greens, who form a minority government. According to Bild, this does not only find supporters in the CDU and CSU faction. Bavaria's Prime Minister and CSU leader Markus Söder will also speak on Wednesday as a member of the Bundesrat. Söder's appearance was "a signal of the Union's unity in the dispute with the remaining traffic light coalition," said Dobrindt. Union wants to extend Bundeswehr missions and agree to constitutional court reform before new elections The law to strengthen the Federal Constitutional Court should be passed during this legislative period, as should the upcoming extensions of the Bundestag mandates for foreign missions of the Bundeswehr, said Union parliamentary manager Thorsten Frei and CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt on Tuesday. In addition, an expiring law that allows telecommunications surveillance in cases of burglary should be extended. According to the report in Bild, Merz instructed the Union's committee leaders in the parliamentary group not to allow anything to be voted on in the plenary session without consulting the parliamentary group. Frei emphasized that he was not available to provide a majority for the planned traffic light pension package and the abolition of bracket creep. Both could also be regulated retroactively by the next government. FDP could vote for the abolition of the cold progression before new elections FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr signaled approval for the law to abolish the cold progression. The parliamentary group leader of the Greens, Britta Haßelmann, named two priorities: strengthening the Federal Constitutional Court and financing the Germany ticket. The group leader of the Left in the Bundestag accused the traffic light coalition of having completely ignored the stabilization of the pension level and the financing of the Germany ticket and called for an end to the "previous blockade attitude" in social policy. Survey on new elections: CDU leads - AfD in second place According to current surveys, the Union has reason to hope to emerge from new elections as the strongest force. According to a survey by the Insa institute on behalf of the Bild newspaper, the CDU and CSU would receive 32.5 percent, the SPD 15.5 percent, the Greens 11.5 percent, the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance seven percent and the FDP five percent. The Left would probably not return to the Bundestag with 3.5 percent. The AfD, which is partly right-wing extremist, would receive 19.5 percent and would be the second strongest party.