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Berlin / Düsseldorf (dpa) - First, in January, an online party conference of the CDU elected him as the new party chairman.
And now, after a sharp power struggle with CSU leader Markus Söder, the North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister has been chosen as the Union's candidate for chancellor:
In the fall, Armin Laschet aims to succeed Angela Merkel, who is not running again.
Laschet is regarded as a representative of “measure and middle”.
Polarizing is not his thing.
One could almost think that he had taken an example from one of his predecessors in the State Chancellery, Johannes Rau (SPD), and his leitmotif “Reconciling instead of splitting”.
With a course of bringing together and integrating, Laschet has been trying since his election as party leader to further integrate his rival Friedrich Merz and his supporters into the CDU.
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However: In the upcoming election campaign, qualities other than a reconciliation course will be required.
Laschet has to attack.
The polls already show that.
At the beginning of the year, the CDU and CSU were still able to bask in the splendor of around 37 percent, but since then they have had a crash of around 10 points.
The lead over the Greens has shrunk threateningly.
Further setbacks cannot be ruled out.
And the man from Aachen also has to work on his personal survey results.
His competitor for the candidacy for chancellor, Markus Söder, ranks well ahead of him in terms of popularity - from which he deduced that he was better suited to be a candidate for chancellor.
Laschet now has to show on September 26th that he can win.
Laschet will probably have to claim some of the polls lost for the Union.
Because they are essentially explained by the bad appearance of those responsible at the federal and state levels in the fight against the corona pandemic.
And with his surprising and generally very cautious approach for a “bridge lockdown”, Laschet has recently contributed to the confusion of many voices.
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Interesting and personal information about Laschet:
- Origin: Laschet was born the son of a miner in Aachen.
His father also seems to have been determined and ambitious: after retraining, he made it to the management of a primary school.
The mother was a housewife.
Laschet grew up in a Catholic family home.
- Descent: According to family tree research, one of Laschet's three younger brothers assumes that the family is descended directly from Charlemagne.
The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia is an avowed admirer of the most powerful emperor of the Middle Ages, whose favorite Palatinate was Aachen.
In Laschet's office in the State Chancellery in Düsseldorf there is a gold-colored bust of the emperor.
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- Education: He was a rather mediocre student, which is revealed in the biography «Der Machtmenschliche».
He sat down once in tenth grade.
He was retired from the Bundeswehr.
He graduated from the first state law examination with a grade of satisfactory.
- Political career: In his party, Laschet carried out the famous "ox tour" through all levels - from the Aachen city council to the Bundestag, the European Parliament to the state parliament in Düsseldorf.
In 2017, he surprisingly levered Hannelore Kraft (SPD) out of office and became head of government of the only CDU / FDP coalition in Germany in North Rhine-Westphalia.
- Management style: Personally and politically, Laschet's motto is: «Measure and center».
In NRW he has shown that he can quietly lead a state government with a one-vote majority together with the FDP.
He is given high credit in the state CDU for having involved the important wings within the party.
- Political credo: This definitely includes his staunch support for a united Europe. There was hardly a speech or press conference missing from the dispute with Söder. After being a member of the Bundestag from 1994 to 1998, he was a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005. In his office is the desk at which Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron signed the Aachen Treaty on Franco-German cooperation in 2019.
- Recipe for success: Laschet is often underestimated.
In competitions within the party, he repeatedly suffered defeats, but with tenacity he still achieved his goal.
In 2010 he was defeated by Norbert Röttgen in the election of the CDU regional chief.
After Röttgen had crashed in the NRW state elections in 2012, Laschet became state chief and in the same year also CDU federal vice-president.
Laschet now also demonstrated this tenacity in the clinch with Söder.
- Family: Laschet and his wife Susanne, a bookseller, have three children: Johannes, Eva and Julius.
Johannes is a fashion blogger and caused a stir some time ago because he had given an advertising partner access to state contracts for corona protective equipment.
- Leisure and relaxation: Laschet is a «crime scene» fan.
"My favorite commissioners are the Cologne and Munich", he once confessed.
On New Year's Day 2020, Laschet played in an episode - in the role of Prime Minister.
He likes reading crime novels for relaxation, but also historical novels.
Laschet is a football fan and likes to attend Alemannia Aachen's home games.
He is passionate about smoking cigarillos.
He has been spending his family vacation at Lake Constance for many years.
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And the crucial question: can he be chancellor?
If he did not answer this question in the affirmative, he would probably not run.
And Laschet, who turned 60 in February, also dares to do this job in terms of fitness.
Before marathon sessions or 18-hour days, like those done by Merkel, he had "the very fewest cuffs," he once told the "Stern".
He only slept five or six hours anyway.
"My wife often asks me how I can keep it up."
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210420-99-279962 / 2
NRW State Chancellery on Laschet's résumé
Homepage of Laschet