At the ruling party to which German Chancellor Angela Merkel belongs, a debate was held by candidates for the new leader, and the selection of a successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has announced her retirement from politics after next fall, has begun in earnest.

Germany's ruling party is running for the center-right "Christian Democratic Union" leader election, the chief minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rachette (59), and Merkel's former political opponent and lawyer, Merkel. Mr. (65) and Mr. Letgen (55), the former Minister of the Environment.



At the debate held on the 14th, the three made their claims about the reconstruction of the economy that was hit by the new coronavirus.



Chancellor Angela Merkel, 66, said her refugee acceptance policy had led to public opposition and was forced to retire from the party leader, but she would retire from politics after serving until next year when her term expires. doing.



The approval rating of the "Christian Democratic Union" had dropped to the 20% level at one point, but recently, due to the evaluation of Merkel's response to the new coronavirus, it has recently reached the high 30% level. It has the highest support among them.



This will make the new leader a strong successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel during the federal elections scheduled for September next year.



The party convention to decide the new leader was originally scheduled to be held in April, but due to the spread of the new coronavirus, it has been postponed twice and will be held online next month. ..

Regarding the election of a new leader in the ruling party to which German Chancellor Angela Merkel belongs, citizens of the capital Berlin said, "The Christian Democratic Union has been successful with Chancellor Angela Merkel so far. It is a little disappointing that there are no female candidates. "I think," or "The three candidates are all older men, and I wish they had a little more variety."



"A collaborative person should become the new leader. In addition, we need to have a vision of how Germany should develop in the future and the ability to do what is needed for it. Some men said, ".

Whereabouts of party leader election

At one point, Merkel's influence was bleak due to growing criticism of refugee acceptance policies, but his calm crisis management response to the new coronavirus has been highly evaluated and is increasing his presence.



In a poll of the German public broadcaster ARD, the percentage of people who said they were satisfied with the work of Chancellor Merkel was 53% in March, but has exceeded 70% since June. It is changing.



Chancellor Angela Merkel has not stated her support for any of the candidates running for the new leader, and has expressed her willingness not to interfere with the election of the leader.



Of the three, Rachette, 59, of the Middle Way, is expected to maintain the Merkel route, but his support has been sluggish due to struggling to deal with the virus in western North Rhine-Westphalia, the chief minister of the state. I will.



On the other hand, Mr. Merkel (65), who is a conservative and familiar with economic policy known as anti-Merkel, currently has no public office and may not be involved in the crisis response over the new coronavirus, so he has a presence. I haven't been able to fully demonstrate it.



Under these circumstances, Mr. Letgen, 55, a former environment minister who is familiar with foreign policy, did not show much support at the beginning, but he is gradually increasing his support.



According to a poll released by ARD last month, 39% of supporters of the "Christian Democratic Union" support Mr. Meltz as the new leader, the highest number.



However, the new leader will be elected by a vote of 1001 representatives within the party, so the results of this poll will not be reflected as is.



Regarding the next prime minister, Mr. Söder, who is the leader of the Christian Social Union, which has a sister party relationship with the Christian Democratic Union and is the chief minister of Southern Bavaria, is gaining popularity among the (53) people. ..



Mr. Söder has been attracting attention for his strong leadership, such as the early introduction of strict measures against the new coronavirus, but at this point he has not made a name for himself as the successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Impact on the new Corona Party Convention

Mr. Crump Karenbauer, who took over the position of leader after Chancellor Merkel retired in December after becoming the leader of the ruling Christian Democratic Union, intends to retire in February due to weak leadership. Was shown.



In response to this, the Christian Democratic Union decided to select a new leader at the party convention in April, but it was postponed to this month due to the spread of the new coronavirus.



However, the virus epidemic that spread in the spring has temporarily subsided, but it has spread again and is in an unstoppable situation.



Since last month, we have taken measures to ban restaurants nationwide in principle, but from the 16th of this month to the 10th of next month, we will also ban most retail stores.



The "Christian Democratic Union" will postpone the party convention again and will select a new leader by voting online on the 16th of next month.

Expert "Need to decide the leader of the party quickly and set the direction"

Professor Yoko Iwama of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies commented that the party convention for selecting the leader of the ruling party was postponed twice. "Although it is affected by the new coronavirus, it seems confusing compared to other political parties. It is necessary to decide the next party leader early and set the direction. It is uneasy for both the party and Germany that the party that should be the most central party does not see leadership. " ..



On top of that, he said, "Unlike ordinary party leader elections, it is a different form of fighting the election campaign while fighting against the enemy called the new coronavirus. It is not yet clear who will be selected in the end." is.



Regarding the federal parliamentary elections scheduled for September next year, he said, "The Christian Democratic Union will continue to be the largest political party, but it will not win as big as it used to." While countermeasures are becoming a major issue, the Green Party, which is focusing on environmental policy, may join the coalition government, and it is necessary to pay close attention to the policies set by each party.



On the other hand, regarding the right-wing party "Alternative for Germany" that made a breakthrough in the last 2017 federal election, "I am dissatisfied if the spread of the new coronavirus does not stop and the economy deteriorates and the unemployed overflow. Votes will flow. "