CSU boss Markus Söder wants to secure his re-election as prime minister in the 2023 state election year with a dual strategy of attacks on the traffic light coalition and his own political accents.
The CSU wants to put pressure on the federal government for “better decisions”, but also put its own concepts in the foreground, said Söder before the start of the CSU party conference in Augsburg. A new state parliament will be elected in Bavaria in autumn 2023. According to current polls, Söder's coalition of CSU and Free Voters can continue to count on a clear majority in Parliament.
Söder: "We're back"
A year after the Union defeat in the federal election and a year before the Bavarian election, Söder sees his party back on track. "A year ago the mood was difficult," he admitted, since there had already been a "depression" in the party. In the meantime, however, they have regained their footing. "We're back, we're stable again and we're committed to leading our country through this crisis." In times of maximum uncertainty, the CSU wants to give "support and hope". They want to ensure "that Bavaria remains by far the strongest state in Germany". About the position of the CSU in Bavaria, he said: "We are number one and we will remain so."
Most recently, there had also been internal CSU complaints about Söder's constant criticism of the Berlin traffic light coalition. That's why he now emphasized: "Today's party conference should send signals about what we expect from Berlin, what we can do ourselves and how we imagine Bavaria's future in and after the crisis". And the federal government doesn't just want to criticize - they want to put pressure on for better solutions.
Despite all external crises, Söder drew a positive interim balance of his government work to date. In the area of high-tech, for example, Bavaria is “leading the way in seven-league boots”. And also with the renewable energies one puts in a turbo, which has not existed in recent Bavarian history. All of this is taken care of at the same time: "The most important task of politics is to be able to multitask." Söder therefore promised that Bavaria would survive the current crisis situation better than others, "because the substance is stronger, because our possibilities are greater".
Merz is expected in Augsburg
Söder also promised again close cooperation with the big sister party CDU. At the end of the two-day party conference on Saturday, CDU leader Friedrich Merz is also expected in Augsburg.
In the leading motion of the party executive, which was to be decided at the party congress, the CSU demands simplified procedures for the development of renewable energies and the further use of nuclear power from the traffic light coalition in order to deal with the consequences of the war in Ukraine. The eleven-page paper entitled "With a clear course through the crisis. We protect Bavaria. For a strong future" was sent to the party executive on Thursday. In essence, the paper summarizes all the points of criticism that CSU representatives have been emphasizing for months.
