Despite criticism from the Chancellor: Müller wants to become the new CDU leader in Saxony-Anhalt

dpa | The Chancellor has counted him out - but Sepp Müller is going on the offensive: Union parliamentary group deputy Müller wants to become CDU state leader in Saxony-Anhalt after his party's defeat in the state elections and to pursue a clear line of demarcation between right and left. “I’m running for state chairman,” said Müller after a meeting of the CDU state executive committee in Magdeburg. The 37-year-old is deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.

They will defend democracy in the middle, said Müller. “There can be no cooperation with the extreme left and there can be no cooperation with the extreme right,” he stressed. “Anyone who is open on all sides is not completely sealed.” The CDU must regain credibility, he emphasized. “That’s why I’m grateful to Sven Schulze and the state executive committee for setting out to enable a new beginning for our state party,” he said.

Prime Minister and CDU state leader Sven Schulze had previously announced that there would be a new election for the state executive board in the fall. This should take place at the end of November or beginning of December, said Schulze. When asked by journalists whether he wanted to run for the presidency again, Schulze said: "It's not my plan at the moment."

The 47-year-old led the Christian Democrats as the top candidate in the state elections. His party fell in the election from 37.1 percent in 2021 to 17.2 percent. The CDU parliamentary group shrank from 40 to 15 members.

Just a few hours before his announcement that he would run for the state presidency, Müller was publicly reprimanded by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). Without mentioning Müller by name, Merz said at a press conference in Berlin that he had pointed out to the party committees "that none of us understood that a few days before the election date, a deputy chairman of the Bundestag faction was stabbing his own top candidate in the back in the way that happened three days before the election until yesterday."

A few days before the election, Müller said in a podcast that if the survey results became election results, then AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund would have a mandate to form a government. Although some saw this similarly with the Christian Democrats, many saw it as a nuisance in the peak phase of the election campaign.

When journalists asked what he said about Merz's criticism, Müller emphasized: "I do not share our federal chairman's statement, and above all the broad majority of our state party does not share it." At the same time, Müller emphasized that as deputy parliamentary group leader of the Union in the Bundestag, he wanted to make his contribution to the upcoming reforms, “and Friedrich Merz has my full support here.”

When asked, Schulze confirmed that Müller's statement had also been discussed at the state executive board meeting before the election. People can have different opinions, but the issues have to be solved internally, said Schulze. He didn't want to go into more detail.

Schulze has been state chairman of the CDU Saxony-Anhalt since 2021 and was last re-elected at a state party conference in November 2025. After the then Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) withdrew in January 2026, the previous Economics Minister Schulze took over as head of government.

On the evening of the election, state parliament member Eva Feußner and the Junge Union had already called for consequences in the state party. The CDU state election campaign was strongly tailored to Schulze as a person - although the CDU has led the state government in Saxony-Anhalt in different constellations for 24 years.

AfD election winner Ulrich Siegmund wants to seek a majority from the other factions and individual MPs. His “declared goal” is “that we get a stable majority that we can rely on in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt as quickly as possible,” said Siegmund in Berlin. This should happen “under the proviso” that core positions, such as migration and internal security, are “implemented 100 percent”.

Müller accused Siegmund of breaking his first election promise. "He said he wanted to have an absolute majority and is now joining forces with the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance. Every voter must be aware of that. He's just not doing what he said before the election," said Müller.