CDU's Laschet tries to summon Bavarian loyalty

Armin Laschet appeared at the Christian Social Union (CSU) party conference in Nuremberg on Saturday morning desperate to convince his Bavarian allies that he, and not their much-loved leader Markus Söder, was the better choice of candidate — despite much evidence to the contrary.

In a demonstrative show of unity, Laschet and Söder appeared side by side on stage, fist-bumping to a rousing string anthem and a several-minute standing ovation, before Söder introduced his erstwhile rival.

Keen to bridge this year's rifts between the parties, Laschet began by underlining their common interests and values, and the CSU's importance in representing Bavaria's interests in Berlin — while underlining his own belief in state rights.

In the ensuing 45-minute speech, Laschet steered into the issues where the CDU/CSU sees its strengths: defense, internal security, and law and order. Once again, he accused the Social Democrat candidate Olaf Scholz of blocking the military from buying armed drones for fear of alienating potential left-wing allies in the socialist Left party.

Red socks under the bed

Insisting that most SPD Bundestag members would prefer a left-wing to a center-right coalition if they win, Laschet said, "That's why it's so dangerous. Anyone who in foreign policy says no to NATO, who cannot even offer the Bundeswehr protection in parliament, who rejected all EU treaties — those people cannot have government responsibility."

By a similar token, Laschet attacked Scholz's record as mayor of Hamburg, bringing up the unrest in the city at the G20 conference in 2017, (which was put down with some force by police). "Olaf Scholz and the Greens will lead to less security in government, and we have to change that," said Laschet.

On other issues, Laschet attempted to present Scholz's leadership of the Finance Ministry as having been held in check by the conservative government. Laschet accused Scholz of a lack of diligence in financial supervision and "populist behavior" after Thursday's raid on the Federal Ministry of Finance. "I hope that he soon clears this up and apologizes," he said. The public prosecutor's office and police raided the Finance and Justice Ministries on Thursday, as part of a preliminary investigation on suspicion of obstruction of justice in office against those responsible for the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in connection with money laundering.

Laschet called for a parliamentary inquiry, while the Finance Ministry said in a statement that it "fully supported" the investigation.

A last throw of the dice

Given the CDU/CSU's struggles in opinion polls during the election campaign and Laschet's several gaffes, many members of both the CSU and CDU could be forgiven for regretting Söder did not win the ugly power struggle between the two men that unfolded in April.

There is evidence on Söder's side: A survey by news magazine Focus published on Friday suggests that, had he been chancellor candidate, the CDU/CSU would have been on 37% at this stage in the campaign, instead of the 20% they are on now.

But Söder's own opinion polls are not looking too healthy, either. One Bayerntrend poll published this week had the CSU on just 28% in Bavaria. That is the lowest rating ever. Tt would mark a disastrous result for Söder not just at the general election in two weeks' time but also in next year's Bavarian regional election — the CSU is used to ratings closer to 50%. 

For all those reasons, the CSU was keen to present a crack-free front with its big CDU partner — the fiery divisions of the spring were replaced this weekend by a single unified broadside against the common enemy: The specter of a Social Democrat victory and the prospect of a coalition with the Greens that might exclude the CDU/CSU altogether.

Söder's battle cry

Söder did his part on Friday afternoon with a rallying cry to his party. "We don't want a left-wing slide in Germany, and for all the journalists taking notes, we want Armin Laschet as chancellor and not Olaf Scholz or Annalena Baerbock," he said, to a storm of applause. "We will show the left that we haven't given up yet. Let's fight. We want to win elections. I have no interest in being in the opposition!"

Söder also picked up a theme that has been a conservative strategy since the opinion polls turned in favor of Scholz in the past two weeks — the communist past of the socialist Left party. "The Left is the official successor party to SED [the ruling party of East Germany), and they've never broken with that organization," he called.

Not only that, Söder argued that Scholz had as finance minister broken Germany's "black zero" taboo by taking on more debt than expenditure — though Söder failed to mention that this was inevitable considering emergency support necessary to shore up the COVID-hit economy. 

This trend, Söder warned, would be continued under Scholz's chancellorship: "Olaf Scholz will be the first German debt-chancellor." He also called for a parliamentary inquiry into the recent raid on the Finance Ministry, a case that has put the SPD candidate under pressure at an inconvenient moment.

Söder ended on a battle cry: "Let's stick together, the countdown is running: Strengthen Bavaria, rescue Germany from the left — I'll tell you one thing: The CSU is best when things get serious. The left hasn't won yet. Watch out! Don't be so sure of yourselves! We'll catch you up in the last few meters! Let's fight for that!"

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