As the CDU’s party conference in Stuttgart approaches, Johannes Winkel, the chairman of the Young Union, is calling on his party to make decisive reform moves. “Especially in social and economic policy we cannot delegate everything to committees” he said to the Friday edition of the “Rheinische Post”.
Winkel added that the current economic situation is difficult and that people are demanding concrete answers, not merely diagnoses of problems. “It must not be a bureaucratic meeting, but a reform conference. The CDU needs the courage to make decisions” he insisted.
At the same time, Manuel Hagel, the CDU’s top candidate in Baden Württemberg, welcomed former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s participation in the federal party convention. “It sends a very positive signal that Angela Merkel will attend the party conference” he told ntv. “The CDU is needed in these times, and it is strongest when it stands united”.
Hagel said he does not see the meeting between Chancellor Friedrich Merkz and Merkel as a point of tension. “There is no significant difference between them” he noted. “Everyone understands that our country needs the CDU right now, and that it is unbeatable when it presents a united front”.