Quota for women in the Union? CDU politician approaches Söder and insists on a fresh start

The CDU needs a fresh start. Many agree on this. Politician Karin Prien insists on a quota for women and criticizes Söder’s behavior.

Kiel / Berlin – After the defeat in the federal election in 2021, many are calling for major changes to the CDU. Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister of Education, Karin Prien (CDU), also believes that a new beginning is inevitable. The personnel realignment must begin this year, she said Daily mirror on Sunday in an interview. The CDU politician insists on a quota for women. “The sober reality is: We won’t make it without a quota.”

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CDU politician calls for a quota for women in the Union – and sharply criticizes Söder

As Priem made clear in the interview, the team at the top of the party must consist of men and women. “The women must not be just a set.” The Minister of Education does not rule out dual leadership. So far, a real quota for women has always been rejected. “The sometimes serious, sometimes flimsy argument was: It’s about performance and not about gender,” Prien told the newspaper. At the same time, however, the party has no problems cultivating regional proportional representation in its purest form.

The CDU leadership agreed last year that a women’s quota of up to 50 percent should gradually be introduced by 2025, starting with board elections at district level, but a party congress still has to approve. “We are a party in turmoil and in upheaval,” said Prien the Tagesspiegel. Since Angela Merkel withdrew from the party chairmanship, they had “been looking at things in a destructive way for far too long”.

CDU politician criticizes Söder: behavior “rather feeds the doubts about his suitability”

According to Prien, there is a whole mountain of unsolved substantive questions and problems in the party. The party structure also needs to be renewed. “Markus Söder wasn’t helpful either,” she said in the interview. “I found the nature of the argument about the candidate for chancellor very unfortunate.” He contributed to the fact that the Union did not give a closed and unsympathetic impression.

Söder’s behavior after the election is “more likely to feed the doubts about his suitability”. As she explains to the Tagesspiegel, the CSU is not in good shape either. In order to improve the relationship with the CSU, one must speak honestly and openly about the strategic goals for the next few years. (tkip / dpa)