Laschet Gains Edge in Fight to Succeed Merkel as Chancellor Bloomberg 44 mins ago Arne Delfs
(Bloomberg) Armin Laschet gained the upper hand in the battle to succeed Angela Merkel at the head of conservatives’ ticket this September after winning a clear majority in a vote among his party’s leadership, putting pressure on his rival to step aside.
Laschet, the head of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, won the backing of 31 out of 46 members of his party’s top committee or 67% in a ballot early Tuesday morning to determine who should lead the center-right bloc into the national election. His rival for the top job, Bavarian State Premier Markus Soeder, won just nine votes, while six abstained.
BERLIN (AP) Armin Laschet has won his rival’s backing to lead Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right bloc into the German election in September, after a bruising power struggle.
Markus Soeder said Tuesday that he will back Laschet, the head of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, after the latter’s party leadership gave him majority support. Soeder said that “the die is cast: Armin Laschet will be the chancellor candidate of the Union.”
Soeder, the leader of the CDU’s smaller Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, had faced off against Laschet for over a week in a standoff that laid bare deep divisions in Merkel’s party. Soeder, whose personal poll ratings are much better than Laschet’s, had significant support in the CDU.
Merkel s bloc chooses Laschet as candidate to succeed her
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Tuesday, April 20, 2021 4:25 AM Armin Laschet, chairman of the German Christian Democratic party (CDU), addresses the media during a statement in front of the party s headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Monday, April 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) The Associated Press Armin Laschet, chairman of the German Christian Democratic party (CDU), addresses the media during a statement in front of the party s headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Monday, April 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) The Associated Press
Armin Laschet appeared to gain the upper hand in the battle to succeed Angela Merkel at the head of conservatives’ ticket this September after winning a clear majority in a vote among his party’s leadership. Laschet, the head of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, won the backing of 31 out of 46 members of his party’s top committee or 67% in a ballot early Tuesday morning to determine who should lead the center-right bloc into the national election, according to a person familiar with the outcome. His rival for the top job, Bavarian State Premier Markus Soeder, won just nine votes, with six abstentions.