Germany-succession of Angela Merkel: the race is accelerating

Text by: RFI Follow

The race for Angela Merkel's succession is accelerating in Germany. The Christian Democratic Party (CDU) announced yesterday, Monday, February 24, that it would hold an extraordinary congress in late April 2020 to designate its new leadership. The suitors came out of the woods this morning and held press conferences to explain their decision and present their political project.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Berlin, Pascal Thibaut

Three heavyweights of the CDU showed up on Tuesday morning February 25, after last week, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Norbert Röttgen. This morning, a surprise came from the decision of a pretender to withdraw. The young Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, will team up with Armin Laschet. With this solution, the Minister-President of the largest German region, North Rhine-Westphalia scores a point. “ Our country needs more cohesion and above all more self-confidence. We must and we can bring our party and our country together. I agree to this through my candidacy, ”said Armin Laschet.

Continuity

This guarantor of continuity with Angela Merkel's policy therefore benefits from the support of Jens Spahn, a supporter of a more conservative line, notably on migration issues. The Minister of Health spoke of " the most serious crisis of the CDU in its history ", adding: " I do not want Angela Merkel to be the last chancellor of our country ". This duo makes it possible to associate the two wings of the CDU. The two men put forward their team spirit , criticizing their challenger Friedrich Merz in a word.

breaking

The latter, a longtime opponent of the Chancellor, who embodies a conservative CDU, had lost little to the current president of the party, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, at the congress in December 2018. The favorite of Christian Democrat and Many members of the party presented themselves as the candidate for a break with the past declaring: " The choice is to be made between continuity and renewal. Things cannot go on like this if we are to hope to win the elections next year . ”

The campaign for the presidency of the CDU promises to be tough before the congress at the end of April. To these pretenders, we must add the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Norbert Röttgen who appears to be an outsider.

► Germany: who to succeed Angela Merkel at the head of the CDU?

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• Germany
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