Germany: in difficulty, Armin Laschet relaunches his campaign to succeed Merkel
Armin Laschet, Angela Merkel's CDU candidate for German Chancellery (center), presents his team at a conference in Berlin, September 3, 2021. REUTERS - ANNEGRET HILSE
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The suspense is at its height in Germany three weeks before the general elections marked by the departure of Angela Merkel.
His party, the CDU, suffered a severe setback in the polls and is now only second behind the Social Democrats of the SPD.
Conservative candidate Armin Laschet presented this Friday, September 3, a team of experts to try to catch up.
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in Berlin,
Pascal Thibaut
"
A team of the future
". Three weeks before the general elections,
the ailing candidate of the Christian Democrats
(CDU) is trying to breathe new life into his campaign with eight people who are experts in their respective fields. Armin Laschet has been criticized, among other things, in recent weeks for not surrounding himself with other personalities. That needs to change even though it might be a bit late.
Four men and four women - parity obliges - were appointed.
Friedrich Merz, Armin Laschet's rival at the head of the CDU at the start of the year, is in charge of finance.
It is a pledge for the more conservative voters and supporters of a liberal economic policy.
Climate, security, education, family, culture, digital complete this campaign team with other people.
All to represent the different currents of the CDU.
Severe decline in the polls
The bad image of Armin Laschet, but also the departure of Angela Merkel who attracted voters more than the party itself, explain the severe decline of the Christian Democrats in the polls.
In one month, they lost seven points in a new poll, and are credited with 20%:
unheard of
.
The Social Democrats, with their candidate
Olaf Scholz, are now in the lead
with 25% of the voting intentions.
► Also to listen
:
Election campaign in Germany: "We are dealing with an unprecedented situation" [International guest]
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Germany
Angela Merkel