A son of Polish migrants was born in Poland 33 years ago and arrived in Germany when he was three. Like famous sports celebrities Lukasz Podolski and Angelique Kerber, he speaks Polish and takes a keen interest in Poland. He has said his parents left Poland as they could not stand the “uniformity” of socialism and “galloping corruption“.
On becoming the head of the CDU youth wing, the “Junge Union” four years ago, Paul Ziemiak made a point of organizing the first board meeting of the organization in his home city of Szczecin.
By selecting him for Secretary General the new leader has sent a clear signal that she wants to have younger conservative members on her side
He has replaced the new leader of CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in the post of Secretary General. It proved a controversial choice with only 63 percent of the delegates at the CDU Congress approved this choice made by the new leader of the party. Kramp-Karrenbauer received almost 98 percent of the vote when she was elected to the post.
By selecting him for Secretary General the new leader has sent a clear signal that she wants to have younger conservative members on her side.
Paul Ziemiak became known a few years ago when he said that anyone who “puts Sharia law above the constitution does not require integration training but should be sent to prison.” He is a conservative closely associated with Jens Spahn, the health minister who was also a candidate for the leadership of the party and comes from the Nadrenia-Westphalia state, which is a stronghold of the CDU. That fact played to Mr Ziemiak’s advantage in securing the post of Secretary General of the party.
