abstract

As a management consultant, Gerd Kerkhoff maintains close contacts with entrepreneurs and is familiar with opinions from the business world. In Stern magazine, he was asked about Armin Laschet's suitability as Federal Chancellor.

The week before Easter was a time to unwind. He spent the holidays thinking. Now the decisive days are beginning.

Since Easter Monday, the deadline of Pentecost has been running for Armin Laschet to come to terms with Markus Söder on the Union's most important strategic decision of the last 16 years - the line-up for the new beginning after the Merkel era. They are doing this in the midst of a deep crisis of meaning in the Union, flanked by a dramatic loss of trust in politics as a whole and Laschet's popularity ratings that are downright abysmal. According to a Forsa survey, only 21 percent of CDU members want Laschet as candidate for chancellor. Doubts in their own house. In football, you would say: the favorite is in the middle of a relegation battle.

Armin Laschet remains the favorite. As CDU leader, he is the first person entitled to be the Union's candidate for chancellor. If Laschet is convinced that he is up to the job of chancellor - and he still gives that impression - then the following applies: if he wants to, he will do it.

But is the man from Aachen the right one?

The question is also gaining importance because the pandemic will keep this country busy for longer than expected. As the next chancellor, he would presumably have to lead the country through the Corona crisis for the time being before he can lead Germany out of the Corona crisis. Armin Laschet has already been able to practice this in a prominent but also subordinate position in Düsseldorf. He was not convincing.

In its joint search with experts (see boxes) for an answer to the question of what is right, Stern has tried to free itself from impressions of the last few days, from Merkel’s criticism of him on “Anne Will”, from Söder’s taunts from Bavaria and from the largely erratic appearances of this driven-looking man on “Markus Lanz” and elsewhere.

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"MANY TRUST HIM"

Mr. Kerkhoff, as a consultant based in Düsseldorf, you have many contacts with companies – how is Armin Laschet perceived? At the beginning, there were great doubts in the business world as to whether Armin Laschet was the right "father of the country": too unspectacular, too conformist, not charismatic enough? Even in the election for federal chairman of the CDU, his opponent's economic competence seemed to outshine everything. But Laschet went his own way. He has now reached the majority of business leaders.

Why? He listens, is genuinely interested in the issues and approaches them in a solution-oriented manner! He also knows how to create a feeling of well-being for everyone involved, despite different opinions, which makes compromise easier. He doesn't leave a trail of rubble behind him. His image is to get things done and find solutions by consensus. His topics correspond to the spirit of the times: digitalization, expansion of the hydrogen economy, a greener energy supply for the basic materials and steel industries.

Is he someone who seeks dialogue with companies? Mr. Laschet undoubtedly enjoys a good reputation. He is pushing for structural change in the direction of digitalization and climate protection, but he always emphasizes "moderation and balance." He would never act too aggressively, which is why many entrepreneurs trust him. The planned "burden moratorium" is interesting, for example. He wants to use it to protect companies from too much cost and bureaucracy. Does he have the qualities to be Chancellor? Armin Laschet has proven in NRW that he can lead a government. He knows the important issues and is working on them. Even if the complexity in Germany is much higher, he can be trusted to resolve these issues by consensus.

Gerd Kerkhoff is head of the management consultancy Kerkhoff Consulting

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Read the entire article in the current Stern No. 15, 08.04.21