German Health Minister Jens Spahn is considering running for the post of Chancellor for the Christian Democratic Union in the Bundestag election this fall, replacing Angela Merkel, the unintentional re-elected current Chancellor.
Germany’s Bild reported on the 8th that Spán has become the focus since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic, and has discussed his future career with many influential CDU people in the past few weeks.
A president of the CDU state association revealed to Bild that Spahn expressed his idea of running “very openly”.
Another CDU state assembly leader said that Spahn “clearly told me that he could run for prime minister if his public opinion rating in March was much higher than that of (North Rhine-Westphalia Governor Amin Raschet”.
The CDU is scheduled to elect the new chairman of the party from 15 to 16, with Raschet as one of the candidates. Spahn expressed his support for Raschet’s election for party chairman last year, and if the latter is elected, Spahn may become vice chairman.
Friedrich Mertz, former chairman of the ruling Bundestag caucus, and Nobert Lettgen, chairman of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee, were also candidates.
Germany is scheduled to hold elections for the Bundestag in September. The Alliance Party, composed of the CDU and its sister party, the Christian Social Union, is expected to continue to form a new government as the largest group in Parliament.
The CDU dominates the Alliance Party, and according to tradition, the new Prime Minister will be the chairman of the CDU Party. However, according to Reuters, other people in the caucus can also run for prime minister, and the candidate for prime minister must be supported by the CDU.
Before the parliamentary election, the new CDU president will face multiple local election tests.
European Politics Weekly reported that Raschet, Merz and Letogen have not seen that far in the parliamentary elections. Some officials therefore hinted that there might be other people running for prime minister, and Spahn and Bavarian Governor Marcus Zedd were the hot candidates.
Spahn, 40 years old, belongs to the young and strong faction of the party.
He opposed Merkel’s opening of the country in 2015 and hosting a large number of Middle Eastern and African refugees. He won popular opinion for his response to the first wave of the coronavirus epidemic, but now he has attracted criticism for the slow promotion of the vaccine.
