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Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer succeeds Angela Merkel as head of the CDU. REUTERS / Fabian Bimmer
Annegret Kramp-Karenbauer, faithful of Angela Merkel, was elected this Friday at the head of the CDU. She replaces the chancellor at this position, forced to leave after 18 years of reign.
At the top of the first round, she had to go through a second round to get through Friedrich Merz, she was ahead by 517 votes against 482, less than 52% of the 1,001 delegates gathered in congress in Hamburg.
AKK, also known as the "Mini-Merkel", shares the Chancellor's centrist and consensual approach. Her experience as Minister-President of the Saar between 2011 and 2018 made her the favorite of the movement's pragmatic wing.
At the head of this bordering Land of France, she had to live with the Greens and the liberals of the FDP, and has acquired a capacity to federate that could be useful in Berlin, where coalitions have become the rule.
A member of the left wing of the CDU, she advocated for the introduction of a minimum wage and for taxation to 53% of the highest income.
More conservative on societal issues, she particularly opposed the advertising of abortion and sparked a controversy in 2015 by considering that same-sex marriage could promote incest and polygamy, but advocated
gender parity on the boards of large companies. She had the support of Finance Minister Peter Altmaier. Married to a mining engineer, she is the mother of three children.