"Chancellor Friedrich Merz's first job in December has been to face down a potential rebellion from the youth wing of his conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) named the Junge Union (JU) over his coalition's plans to reform Germany's pension system. Some 18 Junge Union members in the CDU's parliamentary group threatened to rebel against the new pension package, arguing that it represents too much of a compromise with Merz's coalition partners, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD),"
"The CDU's parliamentary leader Jens Spahn spent much of last week attempting to quell the rebellion. According to media reports, Spahn met personally with several JU Bundestag members over pizza and wine in his own home in the past week either to cajole or to threaten them, depending on whose account one believes. "I simply have friendly, clear conversations. I don't make threats. That's not part of my toolkit," Spahn said Sunday night on the TV debate show Caren Miosga on public network ARD."
Chancellor Friedrich Merz confronted threatened rebellion from the Junge Union over a coalition pension reform that young conservatives call overly compromising with the SPD. About 18 JU members in the CDU parliamentary group warned they would vote against the package, which could topple the government's narrow 12-seat majority. A test vote suggested enough young lawmakers withdrew opposition ahead of the parliamentary decision. Discontent centers on plans to maintain current pension levels beyond 2031 and demands by the JU for a complete renegotiation. CDU parliamentary leader Jens Spahn personally engaged JU members to defuse the crisis.
Read at www.dw.com
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