Armin Laschet: Moderate And Merkel Loyalist By Femke COLBORNE on January 16 2021 10:09 PM Armin Laschet, the new head of Germany's conservative CDU party, is a sworn European and defender of multiculturalism who has promised to continue the centrist course of Chancellor Angela Merkel. The affable 59-year-old was elected as head of the CDU on Saturday, beating corporate lawyer Friedrich Merz and foreign affairs expert Norbert Roettgen. The CDU chairman traditionally leads the party and its CSU Bavarian sister party to the polls, meaning Laschet is in with a fighting chance of becoming Germany's next chancellor. A soft-spoken political moderate with a reputation for pragmatism, Laschet is currently the leader of Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia.