Just before the start of the CDU federal party conference, the Thuringian Minister-President Mario Voigt urged his party to take a stronger, people‑centric approach in the debate about possible upcoming changes to the social sector. “Reforms must not divide. We have to talk about them in a way that leaves nobody behind or disturbed” he told “Tagesspiegel”, adding that the key is the tone: demanding yet not condescending.
He also defended party leader Friedrich Merz for stating uncomfortable economic truths. “Germany is not entitled to success; we have to earn it” Voigt said. “It is a chancellor’s job to say that”.
Voigt is banking on a “Christian‑democratic domino effect” for this year’s state elections. The idea is that his party could, for the first time since 2005, field a chancellor and ten ministers‑premier simultaneously. “That would be a huge political asset, allowing us to lead the country out of the reform blockade”.
He continued that, on the party conference, the CDU will “spell out our reform agenda with many concrete ideas to push the country economically forward”. At the heart of that agenda is a housing‑building offensive: “We will radically simplify the building process. That helps twice – both the construction industry and, most importantly, people looking for homes. When we create housing, we create cohesion”.
