CSU photo fuels debate about female representation – criticism from Green Party leader

Berlin. A photo published by CSU leader Markus Söder about the Union's consultations after the victory in the federal election is causing discussions about the lack of participation of women in the talks and the proportion of women in the new Bundestag.

The picture shows the leaders of the CDU and CSU from a bare meeting room: party leader and candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz, general secretary Carsten Linnemann and the first parliamentary manager of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Thorsten Frei, from the CDU side and from the CSU Söder, general secretary Martin Huber and regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt.

The picture sparked some mocking comments on social media. The satirical website "Postillon" wrote: "Union defends itself against criticism that no women attended the meeting: 'Who do you think set the table?'"

Green Party leader Franziska Brantner told the German Press Agency about the discussions: "The new Syrian government will probably be more diverse than the Union's negotiating team."

According to Bundestag statistics, 204 of the 630 MPs are women - that is 32.4 percent. In the CDU, the proportion of women is 22.6 percent (2021: 23.8 percent), in the CSU it is 25 percent (2021: 22.2 percent). The highest proportion of female MPs is therefore in Alliance 90/The Greens with 61.2 percent (2021: 58.5 percent), and the lowest in the AfD with 11.8 percent (2021: 13.3 percent). In the SPD, the proportion of women is 41.7 percent (2021: 41.8 percent), and in the Left Party it is 56.2 percent (2021: 53.9 percent).

RND/dpa