The German ruling party will support Laschet if it wants to replace Merkel as chancellor

Armin Laschet has won with the help of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union, replacing Angela Merkel as chancellor, following a campaign that sparked a major uprising five months before the national election.

Thirty of the 46 members of the CDU executive committee assisted Laschet in secret ballot, with a colleague, Markus SöderThe Prime Minister of Bavaria is receiving only nine, according to the party. There were six wastes.

The result means Laschet will be among the chancellor’s nominees for the Bundestag election in September, with Merkel bowed down after 16 years as German chancellor.

Söder, leader of the Christian Social Union, the CDU sister party in Bavaria, said he had agreed to vote for Laschet.

But the vote revealed serious doubts among senior Christian Democrats over Laschet’s eligibility.

Laschet, 60, was elected leader of the CDU in January. But he did run in the by-elections, and many in the CDU / CSU think he has a chance of winning the election with Söder as their candidate.

The turmoil within the ruling party also shows its influence on elections. The CDU was up about 40% last year when voters paid Good care for Germany of the first wave of coronavirus epidemic.

But his popularity declined in 2021 as public outrage escalated reduction of Covid-19 vaccine it is a revelation that some MPs have received large organizations on sale for face masks.

The CDU is also facing a major challenge from Greens opponents, who some observers believe could lead to a referendum. The party chose Annalena Baerbock, A 40-year-old MP, as a chancellor’s candidate, in a smooth way that was in stark contrast to the strong struggle for the CDU / CSU.

The son of a miner, Laschet studied law and converted to the Catholic newspaper before being elected to the Bundestag in 1994. He served as a minister in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the 1990’s and became Prime Minister. Minister there in 2017.

Laschet is a close ally of Merkel and has said that once elected chancellor, she will continue her mid-term policy. For a long time he saw her natural successor.

But his popularity has been strained during the epidemic, when he is seen as skeptical and unchanging. In contrast, Söder, who has been known to be a top problem manager, has seen his decision go up.

Laschet was approved on Monday by senior officials in the CDU, such as Wolfgang Schäuble, former finance minister and president of the Bundestag, Volker Bouffier, prime minister of Western Hesse state, and Ralph Brinkhaus, leader of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group.

But other senior members, such as Peter Altmaier, finance minister and Merkel’s close ally, favored Söder, an idea that could undermine Laschet’s rule.

Officials in Saxony-Anhalt and Saarland also split with Laschet in recent days and honored Söder, saying he was very pleased with the party members. The powerful CDU youth group, Junge Union, also supported Bavaria.

Söder found support among many CDU councilors who fear losing their seats in September if Laschet leads the campaign.

Some people who attended Monday’s meeting said the CDU / CSU parliamentary body and party bosses should be involved in any election to elect a chancellor.

But Laschet insisted that only the supervisors could think of and ask for a vote to resolve the issue. “We have to make a choice today, as we did in the beginning,” he said, according to participants.

Söder also said he would respect the position of the CDU chief, telling reporters this week that he would make the party the idea “but only the CDU can decide if it will accept this”.