CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann will not hold a ministerial post in the upcoming federal government. According to the dpa news agency, CDU circles confirmed a corresponding message of the Picture-Newspaper. Accordingly, Linnemann wants to keep his party post: “We have worked hard to rebuild our CDU in the past three years. This process has not yet been completed. I want to continue it,” said Linnemann the Picture.
Linnemann, member of the Bundestag since 2009 and general secretary of the CDU Since 2023, an offer by the designated Federal Chancellor and CDU leader Friedrich Merz, part of the Federal Cabinet, has turned out, reports the AFP news agency. She and the Reuters news agency also report that Merz welcomes the decision of his confidant to remain general secretary. Accordingly, Merz wants to avoid the party that is too close to the Federal Chancellery.
Employer-friendly Merz confidant
Between 2013 and 2021, Linnemann was the chairman of the Mittelstand and Wirtschafts Union and thus one of the most important representatives of the so-called CDU economic wing. Accordingly, he was considered a candidate to the post of the Federal Minister of Economics. In economic issues, the MP regularly commented on employer -friendly, and he also called for a lower income tax.
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“Friedrich Merz could become the first Chancellor to publicly cry”
Linnemann is considered a loyal employee of Merz. According to differences, he had appointed him to be general secretary with the former Secretary General Mario Czaja, who in turn belongs to the employee camp. Linnemann had supported Merz ‘ambitions early on for the candidacy for chancellor. He also headed the commission appointed after the lost Bundestag election 2021, which gave the CDU 2024 a new, conservative basic program.
No “super ministry” for CDU and Linnemann
In the run-up to the Bundestag election in February and afterwards, it was speculated that Merz wanted to separate the area of work from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and also subordinate the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which could have a kind of “super minister”. However, according to the coalition agreement between the Union and the SPD, the conversion does not occur, instead the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs will continue to be managed as a department by the SPD.
However, according to the coalition agreement, there should still be a renovation in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The area of climate protection, during the traffic light government part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs under the still incumbent minister Robert Habeck (Greens), is to be subordinate to the Ministry of the Environment in the future. This also goes to the SPD. The occupation of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which goes to the CDU, is still open as with most other departments. The CDU vice-chief Andreas Jung is considered a possible candidate.
