German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right party yesterday chose North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Armin Laschet as its new leader — sending a signal of continuity months before an election in which voters are to decide who becomes the new chancellor.
Laschet defeated Friedrich Merz, a conservative and one-time Merkel rival, at an online convention of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Laschet won 521 votes to Merz’s 466.
A third candidate, lawmaker Norbert Roettgen, was eliminated in a first round of voting.
Photo: AFP
Yesterday’s vote was not the final word on who would run as the center-right candidate for chancellor in Germany’s Sept. 26 election, but Laschet would either run for chancellor or would have a big say in who does.
Merkel, who has been chancellor since 2005, announced in late 2018 that she would not seek a fifth term. She also stepped down from the CDU leadership.
The decision ends an 11-month leadership limbo in Germany’s strongest party after outgoing leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who had failed to impose her authority on the party, announced her resignation.
There had been no clear favorite going into yesterday’s convention, but the election of Merz would have marked at least a symbolic break with the Merkel era.
Laschet would now have to work to secure party unity.
Laschet, 59, was elected in 2017 as premier of North Rhine-Westphalia state, a traditional center-left stronghold. He governs the region in a coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats, the CDU’s traditional ally on the right.
Polls point to the environmentalist Greens as a possible key to power in the election.
Laschet yesterday pointed to the value of continuity and moderation, and cited the storming of the US Capitol by supporters of US President Donald Trump as an example of where deliberate polarization can lead.
“Trust is what keeps us going and what has been broken in America,” he told delegates before the vote.
“We must speak clearly, but not polarize,” Laschet said. “We must be able to integrate, hold society together.”
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