BERLIN – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right party has elected Armin Laschet, the pragmatic governor of Germany’s most populous state, as its new leader – sending a signal of continuity months before an election in which voters will decide who will be the new one. chancellor.
Laschet defeated Friedrich Merz, a conservative and former rival of Merkel, at an online convention on Saturday of the Christian Democratic Union.
He won 521 votes against 466 for Merz; a third candidate, prominent lawmaker Norbert Roettgen, was eliminated in the first round of voting.
Saturday’s vote is not the final word on who will run as a center-right candidate for chancellor in the German election on September 26, but Laschet will run for chancellor or have a big voice in who will.
There was no clear favorite for Saturday’s vote at a CDU online convention. A first round of voting between about 1,000 delegates produced a virtual tie between Merz and Laschet, with none winning the majority.
Laschet, 59, is the governor of Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia – a traditional center-left stronghold where he won the elections in 2017. He is seen as more aligned with Merkel’s pragmatic centrism and pointed out on Saturday for the value of continuity and moderation.
“We must speak clearly, but not polarize,” he told delegates. “We must be able to integrate, keep society together.”
The decision puts an end to an 11-month leadership limbo at the CDU after once favored Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, failed to impose his authority on the party and announced his resignation. His successor’s vote was postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Laschet’s victory will not be the final word on who will succeed Merkel as chancellor.
The CDU is part of the union bloc together with the Christian Social Union, composed only of Bavaria, and the two parties will decide together the center-right candidate. The Union currently has good research leadership, helped by positive reviews of how Merkel handled the pandemic.
CSU leader Markus Soeder, governor of Bavaria, is widely considered a potential candidate after gaining political stature during the pandemic. Some also consider Health Minister Jens Spahn, running to be the CDU’s deputy leader under Laschet, a possible candidate.
Merkel, who has been chancellor since 2005, announced in late 2018 that she would not run for a fifth term.