CSU boss Markus Söder does not expect to become the Union’s candidate for chancellor. “Bayern will do it once, that was the case with Strauss and Stoiber, but it is extremely unlikely a second time,” said the Bavarian Prime Minister on the ARD program “Caren Miosga” in response to a question from the moderator. He said that the CDU leader and chairman of the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Friedrich Merz, wanted – he (Söder) believed – to become a candidate for chancellor and was of course the favorite. But in the end it’s a formal decision.
There are others in the CDU who might want to, Söder added. But no one in the CSU would want to, “except one who theoretically could,” said Söder, referring to himself. “Possibly, theoretically that could be the theoretical option, but (..) I’m in Bavaria.” You only try to run for chancellor once in your life. “I love Bavaria.” In recent weeks, when asked about possible new ambitions to run for chancellor, Söder has repeatedly emphasized that his place is in Bavaria. He himself is planning the coming years as Prime Minister. The federal election will not take place until autumn 2025.
CSU father Franz-Josef Strauss and his crown prince and later successor Edmund Stoiber each made an unsuccessful attempt at the chancellery in their time. Söder lost the power struggle in 2021 when choosing the Union Chancellor candidate in a bitter power struggle against the then CDU leader Armin Laschet.
The decision on the Union’s candidacy for chancellor will not be made until after the elections in East Germany in September. In addition to Merz, Söder and North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) are said to have ambitions to run for chancellor, although none of them have committed themselves to this so far. In the event of a premature break in the traffic light coalition, Merz is considered the Union’s natural candidate, and Söder also said so.
