• Elections Race to succeed Angela Merkel

  • Germany Future German Chancellor could be named Annalena Baerbock

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Chancellor

Angela Merkel's party

, today ratified its support for the centrist Armin Laschet as a candidate for the German Chancellery in the next general elections, sources from that formation reported.

The CDU federal board gave clear support to Laschet

, leader of the party, in a videoconference called to resolve the conflict between him and the right-wing

Markus Söder,

leader of the Bavarian Social Christian Union (CSU) and also an aspiring candidate. conservative block assembly.

In a secret ballot,

Laschet obtained the vote of 31 members of that union

, while 9 were in favor of Söder and 6 abstained. The Bavarian leader had promised to abide by the decision of the CDU - "our older sister", in his words - as long as it was with a "clear result."

Laschet had called the meeting of the CDU, the party he has led since January, in search of a solution to the conflict between the two.

Both had formalized on Sunday last week their aspiration

to be the joint candidate for the generals on September 26, the first since 2005 in which Merkel will not lead the conservative bloc. They gave themselves a week to reach that agreement, but yesterday that term expired without either having withdrawn in favor of the other or having agreed on a solution.

In separate appearances on Monday, both emphasized their willingness to agree. At the same time, the two made it clear that they were still fighting for appointment to lead the bloc. Despite his declarations of goodwill and in favor of fair play, the German media have highlighted the division of the bloc evidenced in this pulse,

described even as "fratricidal"

in the weekly "Der Spiegel".

The penultimate chapter was provided by Söder yesterday, when he flew last night in a private plane to Berlin in search of support among the CDU, after which he had a last direct negotiation with Laschet.

In favor of Söder several "Länder" of the east had been pronounced

- where the extreme right is especially strong and it is considered that the right-wing Söder can better contain its push.

It also had the support of the party's youth, the Junge Union.

Söder leads Laschet in popularity, which is attributed to his rigorous management of the fight against the pandemic in Bavaria, along the chancellor's line.

Politically,

Laschet better fits the chancellor's centrist and consensus-building profile.

BAVARIAN LEADERSHIP COMPLEX

Only two Bavarian leaders have so far led the Conservatives in a national election.

The first was in 1979, when the parliamentary group opted for

Franz Josef Strauss

;

The Social Democrat

Helmut Schmidt was

re-elected Chancellor

.

The next one to try was

Edmund Stoiber

, in 2002. Merkel was already leading the CDU, but she resigned from the candidacy under pressure from strong men from the party who they considered she could not win.

There, too, a Social Democrat,

Gerhard Schröder

, was re-elected as Chancellor

.

THE GREEN DISCIPLINE

Amid the conservative internal pulse, the Greens today appointed their candidate to the Chancellery, who will be co-president Annalena Baerbock.

Both she and her two-headed presidential partner, the fellow moderate

Robert Habeck

, were running for the job, but have not publicly vied for it.

For the first time in history,

polls point to a viable Green Chancellery

.

The environmentalists occupy the second position in vote intention, five points below the conservatives.

Until now, the only experience of the Greens in a federal government was as partners in the two Schröder legislatures (1998-2005).

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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