BREAKING: Angela Merkel’s centre-right party elects Armin Laschet as new leader to replace her ahead of national elections in September
Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s centre-right party has elected Armin Laschet, the pragmatic governor of Germany‘s most populous state, as its new leader.
The move sends a signal of continuity months before an election in which voters will decide who becomes the new chancellor.
Mr Laschet defeated Friedrich Merz, a conservative and one-time Merkel rival, at an online convention on Saturday of the Christian Democratic Union.
Mr Laschet won 521 votes to Mr Merz’s 466. A third candidate, prominent politician Norbert Roettgen, was eliminated in a first round of voting.
Saturday’s vote isn’t the final word on who will run as the centre-right candidate for chancellor in Germany’s September 26 election, but Mr Laschet will either run for chancellor or will have a big say in who does.
Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures as she addresses a news conference on the coronavirus earlier this year
The new elected Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Armin Laschet reacts after being elected at the party’s 33rd congress, held online because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Berlin, Germany, January 16, 2021