155 days before the Bavarian state elections, the CSU officially named their party leader Markus Söder as their top candidate. With a show of hands and without a formal count, the delegates voted without abstentions or dissenting votes at the party conference on Saturday for the mandatory election, in which there were no opposing candidates. “Uh, yes, I really thank you very much,” said Söder after the election. The election result is a great signal to the outside world.
According to all current polls, the CSU can look calmly to the election on October 8th: it last ranged between 40 and 42 percent. That would be a clear improvement on the result of 2018, when the party only achieved 37.2 percent and lost its absolute majority in the state parliament. Since then, the Christian Social Party has governed in a coalition with the Free Voters. Söder has repeatedly emphasized that he wants to continue the alliance in the coming legislative period. On the other hand, he has repeatedly and vehemently ruled out a possible coalition with the Greens.
New basic program
In addition, the CSU wants to decide on its new basic program at the one-day party conference. With this she wants to prepare herself for current and future challenges in times of the Ukraine war and after Corona. The approximately 90-page work, which the party recently presented to the public after around a year of work, is a classic positioning of the CSU as a conservative people’s party – but also with some new facets and emphasis. The importance of renewable energies, a functioning health and pharmaceutical supply system and domestic food production are worked out.
The CSU is planning another major party conference for September, shortly before the state elections. The entire party executive, including Söder, will then be re-elected there as scheduled. This party conference should also last one day. In recent years, only one large party congress per year was usual, but then always over two days.
