The CDU wants to adopt a new basic program at the party congress. Also included: more distance from Islam and the option for nuclear energy.
CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann and party leader Friedrich Merz agreed to a change to military conscription Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa
BERLIN taz | It’s lunchtime when the CDU’s federal executive committee has to give in. Johannes Winkel, the chairman of the Junge Union, has just presented a change to the design of the basic program with verve. “We cannot leave defense to the principle of hope,” said Winkel, who called for nothing less than the reintroduction of military conscription.
More precisely: the JU wants to gradually withdraw the suspension of military service until the introduction of a general, mandatory year of service; The latter is already a decision of the party. Until then based on the Swedish model a so-called contingent military obligation should be introduced. This means: all men and women of one year must be drafted, but only as many as correspond to the current needs of the Bundeswehr. The draft of the Federal Council of Governors spoke rather non-committally about the fact that there should be no prohibition on considering compulsory military service.
After Winkel, several delegates who supported the JU motion took the floor. “If we want to bring about a turning point in the Bundeswehr, the issue of recruiting personnel is part of it,” said Daniel Günther, the Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein. Joe Wadephul, deputy parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, helped develop the original version – and changed his view: “We have to say where the CDU wants to go.” CSU leader Markus Söder, who will speak later at the party congress, praises the decision. “The commitment to compulsory military service is an important commitment to the strength of the Bundeswehr.”
The basic program committee worked for two years, The result is a 72-page design entitled ‘Living in freedom’. 2,120 amendments were submitted at the party congress on Tuesday. The entire day is reserved for the debate, which is only interrupted by Söder’s speech later in the afternoon. The party’s fourth basic program is adopted in the evening, the last one being 17 years old.
Röttgen complains about the callousness in the asylum debate
“Today will be historic,” Secretary General Carsten Linnemann, chairman of the committee, said at the start of the debate. And party leader Friedrich Merz contradicted the widespread view that the CDU is not a program party, but rather a party of power. “We can only implement something if we are responsible – but this something must have substance,” Merz emphasized.
During the day, MPs waved at many points without debate: a commitment to the dominant culture, for example, and a link between the retirement age and life expectancy. until the very last moment it was actually a controversial statement about Islam. It now says: “An Islam that does not share our values and rejects our free society has no place in Germany.”
An attempt to remove gender equality from the program failed
After all, a new attempt to remove the concept of equality between men and women from the program failed. The term is a thorn in the side of some conservatives in the CDU, who sense identity politics everywhere. However, because this passage had already been discussed and decided at a party conference a year and a half ago, further discussion was rejected.
The attempt to somewhat weaken the planned dramatic tightening of asylum legislation also failed. Foreign politician Norbert Röttgen called for Germany to accept at least those refugees who are recognized under German law as politically persecuted during trials in safe third countries. “There are very few people,” says Röttgen.
The “hardness” in the design does not do justice to the CDU. Röttgen also recalled that the fundamental right to asylum is enshrined in the Basic Law for historical reasons. But that made no sense, the amendment was rejected by the deputies. “Anyone who applies for asylum in Europe must be transferred to a safe third country and go through a procedure there. In the event of a positive outcome, the safe third country will offer the applicant protection on the spot,” the basic program now states. In Germany, only a quota to be determined will be accepted.
The attempt to remove the possibility of returning to nuclear energy from the draft also failed. It concerns the formulation that Germany cannot do without the ‘nuclear energy option’. Andreas Jung, climate expert for the Union, argues before the Federal Board of Directors: “There is no way back to the current generation of nuclear energy.” The Federal Executive Committee. The change request is rejected.
At the beginning of the evening, Bundestag member Serap Güler, deputy head of the policy program committee, warned that all speakers should please keep it short. “There are nine more requests to speak at this point alone.” The debate has now reached page 60 of the draft. The start of the “Berlin Evening” with DJ Joe Chialo, Berlin’s senator for culture, has been postponed.