The ruling Christian Democrats of Germany (CDU) organize a party conference in mid-January to elect a new president. The secretary of the CDU, Paul Ziemiak, announced this on Twitter on Saturday.
–
The CDU is the largest party of the German parliament, the Bundestag, and therefore supplies the Federal Chancellor. The new chairman is therefore expected to succeed Angela Merkel, who has held that office continuously since 2005, but wants to retire as chancellor before the elections in September next year.
–
–
Successor killed
Merkel was president of the CDU between 2000 and 2018. After that, confidant Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was chosen for that position. She was seen by friend and foe as the likely successor to become chancellor after Merkel’s departure from the Bundestag. However, ‘AKK’ announced her departure as party chairman in February following an affair surrounding the election of a prime minister in the state of Thuringia.
–
There, the CDU approved a Liberal Prime Minister, along with the votes of Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). This meant that the dam against ‘cooperation with the extreme right’ was broken for the first time since the Second World War. That was very much against Merkel’s wishes, who intervened to change their minds in Thuringia – something AKK had failed to do. It was the last straw for AKK, who, since taking office, turned out to have the greatest difficulty in aligning the different movements within the party.
–
The candidates
–
After being led by women for two decades, the new president is sure to become a man. The three candidates for the position are North Rhine-Westphalia Moderate State Prime Minister Armin Laschet, Foreign Affairs Specialist Norbert Roettgen, and former businessman and MP Friedrich Merz. Merz in particular is known as a critic of the course that Merkel has sailed in recent years. On October 17, the candidates entered into a debate to convince the members of the CDU of their qualities.
–
The party congress, where 1,001 delegates meet, was supposed to take place this year but has already been postponed twice due to the increasing number of corona infections.
–
Also read:
“She has finally realized she is the cause of the election defeats” (+)
–
Germany’s most popular virologist kills corona with his eyes (+)
–
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss out on the stars.
–
–
