Merkel’s party elects leader committed to upholding her legacy
Germany’s dominant party voted for continuity on Saturday by electing Armin Laschet as leader, opting for the candidate who most resembles outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel in policy and style.
Laschet, head of the country’s most populous state, beat longtime Merkel critic Friedrich Merz in a runoff after Norbert Roettgen, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Bundestag, was eliminated in the first round of voting at the Christian Democratic Union’s online convention.
“I’m aware of the responsibility that comes with this job and will do everything to do well in the upcoming regional elections and to ensure in the national election that the next chancellor comes from the Union,” he said.
With Merkel stepping down after elections in September, there’s intense focus on the succession in Berlin as Europe seeks to kick-start a pandemic-ravaged economy, reset trans-Atlantic ties with the incoming U.S. administration and take a larger roll on the world stage.
Of the three candidates, Laschet has been Merkel’s biggest supporter and the most likely to maintain her centrist course, resisting challenges from the nationalist Alternative for Germany and the liberal Greens party while upholding her commitment to the European Union. “The Germany I imagine is a European Germany,” Laschet told delegates ahead of the vote.
Yet right after Laschet’s election, tensions were running high behind the scenes, with Merz chafing at his defeat. He tweeted he had offered Laschet to join Merkel’s cabinet as economy minister. Her spokesman immediately made it clear that the chancellor was not planning to reshuffle her cabinet, long before Laschet himself reacted by saying that such changes were not in the cards.