German Chancellor Angela Merkels party is choosing a new leader on Saturday, eight months before voters decide who will succeed Merkel in a national election.
(Odd Andersen/Pool via AP)BERLIN – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right party chose Armin Laschet, the pragmatic governor of Germany’s most populous state, as its new leader Saturday.
Laschet will have to build unity in the Christian Democratic Union, Germany's strongest party, after beating more conservative rival Friedrich Merz.
Saturday's vote ends a nearly year-long limbo since outgoing leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who narrowly beat Merz in 2018 to succeed Merkel as CDU leader but failed to impose her authority, announced her resignation.
Laschet has garnered mixed reviews in the pandemic, particularly as a vocal advocate of loosening restrictions after last year’s first phase.