Merkel gets boost with ally’s party win

HAMBURG: The victory in a party leadership battle of a close ally of Angela Merkel greatly boosts her chances of seeing out her fourth term, but 2019 will bring new threats for the world's most powerful woman.

As the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) wrapped up a conference in Hamburg on Saturday, Merkel, 64, could celebrate that her handpicked deputy party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, known as AKK, won the race to succeed her after 18 years at the helm.

The career politician dubbed “mini Merkel” by the media is now in pole position to lead Germany’s biggest party into the next general election, set for 2021.

She would then have a strong chance of replacing the chancellor when Merkel leaves the stage for good.

The CDU’s choice marked a vote for relative political stability in Europe as British PM Theresa May faces Brexit turmoil and French President Emmanuel Macron’s government is rocked by violent street protests.