CDU chief should only be determined when Scholz is already chancellor

The member survey of the CDU should not last for months, as with the SPD. But one thing is already clear: Olaf Scholz should be elected Chancellor before the Christian Democrats have a new boss.

Perhaps the Social Democrat will even give his first New Year’s address beforehand. Because in the decision that the conference of the CDU district chairmen made at the weekend, there is a reservation in the schedule: the procedure should be completed “if possible” before Christmas and notified by a party congress.

For CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak and his team, this is a sporting requirement. The statutes do not specify how a member survey should take place. The federal executive committee should therefore determine the exact procedure on Tuesday.

But so that someone cannot formally object afterwards, it must at least roughly be based on guidelines that can be derived from electoral and association law.

Three phases on the way to the new chairman

On Saturday, Ziemiak roughly divided the path into three phases: application, introduction and coordination phase.

If you set about two weeks for each, the process ends in mid-December. If a runoff election becomes necessary – which everyone is assuming at the moment – the last conceivable date of the party conference this year would only just be reached on the weekend before Christmas.

There would hardly be time for the usual agreements between state and other CDU associations for posts in the presidium and board.

A date in January, however, is met with little enthusiasm among Saarlanders, Schleswig-Holsteiners and North Rhine-Westphalia, who go to state elections in the spring. The Saarlanders have to compete at the end of March.

The whole thing is difficult to shorten, however. Everyone who is seriously interested in succeeding Armin Laschet is known. But even in earlier chairman elections, simple party members tried to apply for the vacant post.

At that time, a sprawling field of applicants was stopped by the fact that every candidate had to be proposed by at least one district association. But that also takes time.

Short introduction or another regional conference?

The “introduction” phase could be shortened. After all, people like Friedrich Merz or Norbert Röttgen are no strangers, argued speakers at the conference.

Others, however, did not want to forego regional conferences and the opportunity to ask questions to applicants and possible team partners.

There is no leeway for the actual voting. A postal vote of all around 400,000 members, a ballot box at the branch offices or an online vote is conceivable. Just for the post office you would have to plan three days there and three back, plus the time to tick.

Since the CDU has the oldest membership of all parties – the average is 61 years – it should come down to a choice between several options.

For the count, the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus can then obtain the address from the SPD colleagues at which high-speed slot machines can be rented to open ballot letters.

Basic democracy will be more expensive even without the special devices. Each ballot can easily add up to a million euros in addition to the costs for introductory rounds and party congresses, which are due anyway.