More than four months ago, CDU city councilor Wieland Niekisch made his ambitions for the Potsdam CDU chairmanship public and wanted to be elected at the upcoming party conference on March 24th. But now other leading representatives in the party are fielding an opposing candidate. It is about the Potsdam state parliament member Steeven Bretz, who is also the parliamentary manager of his parliamentary group. The 46-year-old was already chairman of the CDU Potsdam between 2015 and 2018.
When asked by PNN on Friday, several leading CDU representatives from various district associations and organizations spoke out in favor of trying again, including the parliamentary group leader Matthias Finken or the chairman of the Junge Union, Andro Heinz. Support for Bretz also came from Jan Jacobi, who leads the CDU association Drewitz-Stern-Kirchsteigfeld and the Christian Democratic Workers’ Union in Potsdam. He said, looking at Niekisch: “I cannot recommend our members to steer full force into a tsunami now. What we need now is reliability and professionalism, that’s what Steeven Bretz stands for.” That’s why Bretz will also be nominated at the party conference.
Niekisch had already announced his goals in January of wanting to significantly improve the CDU election results in Potsdam. The former member of parliament had previously led the party between 1995 and 2008, after internal party criticism of a consulting contract, he left. During this time he had already fought for the party chairmanship in 2007 with Bretz, who was almost 20 years his junior, and narrowly won. His supporters include the CDU associations in Babelsberg and Potsdam-West. The Potsdam CDU has been chronically divided for years.
Young Union for Bretz
The Junge Union campaigned for Bretz on Friday at PNN’s request. “The young generation needs someone at the head of the CDU Potsdam who finds it important to hear the views of the younger generation and engage in mutual exchange. For me, this person is clearly Steeven Bretz.” Ferdinand Fiedler, head of the Potsdam district association of the SME and Economic Union, also signaled support: “I hope that Mr. Bretz will be available for the office of district chairman.” Bretz himself was on Friday for initially unable to reach the PNN.
The chairman of the Waldstadt-Schlaatz district association, the city councilor Lars Eichert, said: “Personally, I would like Mr. Steeven Bretz to take up the position of chairman.” He also wanted Bretz’s nomination as district chief at the next meeting in the CDU district association propose: “I assume that such an application will find a broad majority.” The outgoing district chairman Oliver Nill also said on request that another candidacy was to be welcomed – “at best, supported by a team of top performers from the current board and fresh faces”.
City faction leader Matthias Finken spoke of a “kind of upheaval and a generational change” for the party, in which it would be “welcome to stimulate democratic discourse if other candidates applied alongside Niekisch. “After all, we are in 2023 and today’s topics should shape party work.” As parliamentary group leader, he worked smoothly and successfully for several years with Bretz as district leader. “I think we could build on that and present a strong CDU as a real alternative in the local elections.”
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