Young Union Berlin demands Wegner withdraw from top candidacy

As the Senate Chancellery further explained, Wegner only spoke by phone with Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (SPD) at 12:45 p.m. "Before 12:45 p.m., no phone call had taken place," the statement said. The Senate spokesperson also clarified that by using the phrase "am Vormittag," Wegner meant the period before his tennis match at 1:00 p.m., not the morning before 12:00 p.m.

Contradictions regarding the sequence of events on 3 January

In January, Wegner told journalists: "Ich habe in der Tat um 8.08 Uhr begonnen, die Telefonate zu führen. Ich habe mit den Krisenstäben telefoniert, mit Stromnetz." A few days later, rbb revealed that Wegner played tennis on the day of the power outage between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. In an rbb interview at the summer reception at the Rotes Rathaus, Wegner explained: "Das hatten wir ja schon im März bestätigt, dass ich zwei Telefonate am Vormittag geführt habe, den Rest über Textnachrichten."

As early as March, Wegner had conceded to Bild and B.Z.: "Ja, ich habe kommunikative Fehler gemacht und möchte mich dafür bei allen Berlinerinnen und Berlinern entschuldigen." On the platform X, Wegner wrote on Wednesday: "Durch meine Aussagen Anfang Januar ist ein Eindruck entstanden, den ich bis heute sehr bedauere. Für mich ist entscheidend, aus Fehlern zu lernen und es künftig besser zu machen." He added that he had already spoken with Bild and B.Z. in March and apologized to the people of Berlin.

Credibility as a point of contention

Burkart sees the foundation of political leadership damaged by the contradiction. "Dieser dokumentierte Widerspruch betrifft die Grundlage politischer Führung, nämlich Glaubwürdigkeit," JU chief Burkart told The Pioneer. One reason for the CDU's negative trend in the polls is also a "Glaubwürdigkeitsproblem an der Spitze." A withdrawal by Wegner would be "in the interest of the city and the party."

Indeed, the CDU in Berlin is losing significant support according to BerlinTrend. In the current BerlinTrend by rbb24 Abendschau and rbb 88.8, Die Linke is ahead with 20 percent, followed by the Greens with 19 percent and the AfD with 18 percent. The CDU has only 17 percent and is thus in fourth place. In the 2023 election, the Christian Democrats had still reached just over 28 percent. The SPD, governing as the junior partner, stands at 13 percent in the Sunday question. At the beginning of July, Infratest dimap had also seen Die Linke ahead with 20 percent.

CDU significantly weaker in polls

The black-red coalition of CDU and SPD would no longer have a majority in the Abgeordnetenhaus according to the current BerlinTrend. The Senate Chancellery also confirmed that further phone calls with the Federal Chancellery and other offices only took place after Wegner's sporting activity in the afternoon.

Burkart is not an unknown figure in the CDU. After a years-long legal dispute, a regional court confirmed his election as JU chair. Since his controversial election as JU chief, Burkart has been regarded as an intra-party critic of Wegner. The Senate Chancellery only provided the information to the Tagesspiegel after the newspaper had filed an urgent application and the Administrative Court had obliged the authority to provide the information.

Background of the demand

The program about the report was broadcast on 9 July 2026 at 6:30 a.m. on rbb 88.8; the author was Max Käther. The piece was aired on the Deutschlandfunk program. Burkart's demand to Wegner thus falls just a few months before the election to the Berlin Abgeordnetenhaus on 20 September, in a phase in which the CDU is significantly behind its previous levels in the polls.

Whether Wegner will give in to the demand was initially open. On the sidelines of the summer reception at the Rotes Rathaus, Wegner told rbb: "Das zählt für mich." He was referring to the willingness to learn from mistakes. Wegner did not initially provide a statement on the concrete withdrawal from the top candidacy. The CDU leadership in Berlin was initially unavailable for comment on Thursday.