Chancellor election | After Merz election: Union debates cooperation with Left Party

Berlin The difficult election for chancellor has sparked a debate within the CDU/CSU about cooperation with the Left Party. To facilitate a second round of voting, the CDU/CSU had to hold talks with the Left Party – but the CDU actually has an incompatibility resolution with this. On Wednesday, Chief of Staff Thorsten Frei (CDU) already expressed his openness to abolishing this resolution.

"We will have to discuss this together," Frei told broadcasters RTL and N-TV. While the decision of the CDU federal party conference cannot be overturned with the stroke of a pen, "we are certainly in a situation where we have to reevaluate one or two issues."

CDU leader Friedrich Merz surprisingly failed in the first round of the chancellor election on Tuesday morning. In order to hold a second round of voting on the same day, two-thirds of the members of parliament had to vote in favor of a motion to shorten the deadline.

Because this majority, alongside the CDU/CSU, SPD, and Greens, could only be achieved with the AfD, which is considered to be firmly right-wing extremist, or the Left Party, the CDU also held talks with the latter. However, the CDU actually has an incompatibility resolution with the Left Party that precludes cooperation. This resolution was passed at a CDU party conference in 2018.

Frei said that the chancellor election once again presented the problem that a two-thirds majority was simply not possible. Therefore, the focus now is on pragmatic solutions for the country. "The well-being of the country is always more important than party interests."

Regarding the new talks with the Left Party, CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann said on ZDF on Tuesday evening: Procedural issues had already been clarified between the parliamentary secretaries in the past. This was also the case with the chancellor election.

The CDU politician emphasized: "But we have this incompatibility resolution, which stands." There are still left-wing extremist currents within the Left Party. Party conferences will have to show how the resolution will be discussed in the future, Linnemann added, however, that he was open to the idea. The CDU is a party "that deals with these matters very openly."

The new CDU/CSU parliamentary manager, Steffen Bilger, reiterated on Wednesday on broadcaster Welt that the new talks with the Left Party were "not a substantive collaboration." "The incompatibility resolution stands." However, there will be repeated situations in the Bundestag in the coming weeks where discussions will have to be held, for example, on organizational issues.

Left Party leader Ines Schwerdtner, meanwhile, has already called on the CDU/CSU to cooperate more closely with her party in the future. She expects the CDU/CSU to speak up not only "when the situation is critical, but also for other political decisions when a two-thirds majority is necessary." She further told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND): "Democratic parties should be able to talk to each other."

The CDU/CSU did not hold any talks with the AfD during the federal election. The party, which was recently classified by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as "certainly right-wing extremist," has also been declared incompatible with the CDU/CSU.

AfD leader Alice Weidel accused the CDU on Wednesday in the online service X of wanting to "make a pact with the Left." "Because it is already clear that it will be difficult to govern with the small coalition of the CDU/CSU and SPD." AFP