BERLIN (AP) – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right party on Saturday chose Armin Laschet, the pragmatic governor of Germany’s most populous state, as its new leader – months before an election, sending a signal of continuity in which voters will decide who will be the new chancellor.
Laschet defeated Friedrich Merz, a conservative and one-time Merkel rival, at an online convention of the Christian Democratic Union. Laschet won 521 votes against Merz’s 466. A third candidate, prominent legislator Norbert Roettgen, was eliminated in a first round of voting.
Saturday’s vote isn’t the final word on who will be the center-right candidate for chancellor in Germany’s September 26 elections, but Laschet will run for chancellor or will have a big say in who does.
Merkel, who has been Chancellor since 2005, announced in late 2018 that she would not be seeking a fifth term. She also stepped down from the CDU leadership.
The decision puts an end to 11 months of leadership in Germany’s strongest party after outgoing leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who had not imposed her authority on the party, announced her resignation. A vote on her successor has been postponed twice due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There had been no clear favorite at Saturday’s convention, but Merz’s election would have at the very least signified a symbolic break with the Merkel era. Laschet will now have to work to ensure unity of the party.
Laschet, 59, was elected governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, a traditional center-left stronghold, in 2017. He rules the region in a coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats, the CDU’s traditional ally on the right, but could probably work with a more liberal partner quite smoothly. Current polls point to the environmentalist Greens as a possible key to power in the elections.
Laschet pointed to the value of continuity and moderation on Saturday, citing the storming of the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump as an example of where deliberate polarization can lead.
“Trust is what keeps us going and what has been broken in America,” he told delegates before the vote. “By polarizing, sowing disagreement and mistrust, and systematic lying, a president has destroyed stability and confidence.”
“We have to speak clearly, but not polarize,” said Laschet. “We have to be able to integrate, keep society together.”
He said the party needs “the continuity of success” and “we will only win if we stay strong at the heart of society.”
Laschet said that “there are a lot of people who like Angela Merkel especially and only after that the CDU.” He added that “we now need this trust as a party” and that “we need to work for this trust.”
Saturday’s result will now be officially endorsed in a ballot by letter – which is expected to be a formality, but required by German law.
The CDU is part of the Union bloc, along with the Bavarian-only Christian Social Union, and the two sides will jointly decide the center-right candidate for chancellor. The Union is currently running a healthy poll, aided by positive reviews of Merkel’s approach to the pandemic.
CSU leader Markus Soeder, the governor of Bavaria, is widely regarded as a potential candidate after gaining political status during the pandemic. Some consider Health Minister Jens Spahn, who supported Laschet and was chosen as one of his deputies, also as a possible candidate.
Opinion polls have shown that Soeder’s ratings are higher than Saturday’s CDU candidates. Laschet has received mixed reviews about the pandemic, especially as an outspoken advocate of easing restrictions after the initial phase last year.
He wouldn’t expect much from a honeymoon as a CDU leader. There are also six state elections this year, the first two in mid-March.
Merkel, now 66, has led Germany and Europe through a series of crises since taking office. She has also repeatedly broken with conservative orthodoxy, for example by speeding up Germany’s departure from nuclear power and ending military service.
Her decision in 2015 to admit large numbers of migrants led to divisions in the center-right and reinforced the far-right Alternative for Germany party, which entered the German parliament two years later.
Alternative German co-leader Joerg Meuthen said Laschet’s election means the CDU will “continue Merkeling” and claimed his party “remains the only conservative party in Germany.”