New job in NRW
Wüst makes Ziemiak CDU Secretary General


07/11/2022 8:54 PM

When the CDU leader, Merz, took office, Zimiak’s time as General Secretary of the Federalist Party ended. Until then, the 37-year-old had been involved in a prominent position in the party’s reorganization after Angela Merkel. And now Prime Minister Wüst brings him to North Rhine-Westphalia.

Paul Zimyak became the new General Secretary of the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia. At a meeting in Düsseldorf, the Governing Council endorsed a similar proposal made by Head of State and Prime Minister Hendrik Fust. The former General Secretary of the CDU should therefore immediately take up his new job as General Secretary on an interim basis. However, for the official appointment, a decision by the party Congress has yet to be passed. Like this won’t happen until next year.

The 37-year-old Ziemiak was the national president of the Junge Union from 2014 to 2019. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2017. Two attempts to complete the degree failed. In 2018, after being elected at the party congress in Hamburg, party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer nominated him for the post of new General Secretary. The move was seen as an attempt by the new chiefs to integrate the camps of their losing rivals, Frederick Merz and Jens Spahn, whose supporters and sympathizers were Zimmiak. He also held this position under the leadership of the next party leader, Armin Laschet. His successor, Merz, then proposed, in turn, Mario Zaga for the position, which he took on in January 2022.

Organizer and digitization

Ziemiak builds his reputation as a crisis manager. At the time, the CDU attempted to reorganize after the departure of long-term Chancellor Angela Merkel. During this time, among other things, there was an election scandal in Thuringia, when the CDU, together with the Alternative for Germany and the Free Democratic Party, elected the liberal Thomas L. Kimmrich as Prime Minister, which also led to the resignation of the Justice Party and development.

In addition, Ziemiak has led the party organizationally through large parts of the coronavirus pandemic and expanded digital participation for members. Ziemiak earned special recognition by organizing the first CDU’s first purely digital party conference in January 2021. The development of a new core program was not completed during his tenure.

In the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, he now succeeds Josef Hofenorgen, who resigned after being appointed Parliamentary Minister of State in June.