Saxony-Anhalt CDU lawmaker calls Sven Schulze's election as faction leader a “fatal signal”

Sepp Müller says the Saxony-Anhalt CDU sent the wrong message only days after suffering its worst state election result since German reunification. The deputy leader of the CDU-CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag criticized the choice of outgoing Premier Sven Schulze as the party's new faction leader.

Speaking on Markus Lanz's ZDF talk show, Müller said: “It is a fatal signal if you say the evening before that you are clearing the way for a new beginning.” The faction nevertheless made its decision, he said, adding that he accepted it and that “we as a party stand together.”

Schulze defeated former faction leader Guido Heuer in a contested vote two days after the CDU's defeat in Sunday's state election. Müller, regarded as a determined opponent of Schulze, said the party lay in ruins and had lost credibility. He also believes any cooperation with the Left would tear the CDU apart.

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It is a fatal signal if you say the evening before that you are clearing the way for a new beginning.

The AfD emerged as the strongest force with 43.8% of the vote, well ahead of the CDU's 17.2%. The CDU lost 25 seats and will hold only 15 in the new state parliament.

The faction leadership is not the party's only unresolved personnel issue. Schulze, who currently leads the state CDU, has called for a new state executive election in late November or early December and said he will not stand again. Müller wants to succeed him as state party leader.

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We as a party stand together.