Shortly before the CDU’s annual party conference, Thuringian Minister President Mario Voigt urged his party to adopt a more people‑centric approach when debating potential changes in the social sector. “Reforms must not be divisive. We have to speak about them in a way that leaves no one behind or disturbed” he told the “Tagesspiegel”. “The tone matters: it has to be demanding, but not condescending”.
Voigt also defended CDU chairman Friedrich Merz for voicing uncomfortable economic truths. “Germany has no entitlement to success; we have to earn it” he said. “Saying that is the job of a chancellor”.
Looking ahead to this year’s state elections, Voigt predicts a “Christian‑Democratic domino effect”. He believes his party could win the chancellorship and simultaneously secure ten state premiers for the first time since 2005-an outcome that would provide a powerful political lever for breaking the current reform gridlock.
He said the CDU will detail its reform agenda with many concrete proposals at the party meeting to push the country’s economy forward. At the heart of the plan is a housing‑construction offensive: “We will radically simplify building. This benefits the construction industry-and especially those searching for homes. By creating housing, we build social cohesion”.