Climate change among greatest challenges of our time – CDU party head candidate

The long-time rival of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former parliamentary group leader of the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, Friedrich Merz,  provided the first details on his candidacy to become chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in December. “Migration, globalisation, climate change, digitalisation - these are the greatest challenges of our time in my view,” Merz said at a press conference in Berlin. At a time of “radical upheavals”, voters and CDU members expect a “clear course”, he added. “To this end, I want to initiate a […] renewal in our party and lead it with a steady hand.” Merz said he wanted to drive forward “the opening and modernisation” of the party, which, he stressed, needed more women and young people as members. Merz said he and the other candidates would have a “lively, but fair and decent dispute” in the run-up to the party conference on 7-8 December. The party has not yet agreed on how to find and elect the next party chair, but one possibility could be that the candidates present themselves to party members at regional conferences, said Merz. 

For background, read the article Climate and energy views of candidates to follow Merkel at helm of CDU.