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Leaders of Merkel's CDU meet to discuss choice of candidate for next chancellor
Senior members of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) met on Monday to discuss whether to back party chairman Armin Laschet as the conservative candidate for chancellor at a September election, or to support Markus Soeder, chief of their Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU).
Senior members of Germany's Christian Democrats met on Monday to discuss whether to back party chairman Armin Laschet as the conservative candidate for chancellor at a September election, or go for Markus Soeder, chief of their Bavarian sister party.
Soeder, the Bavarian premier and leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), put himself forward on Sunday to run as the conservative candidate in September's federal election and said he would settle the question soon and amicably with his rival, Laschet.
Pressure is mounting for a swift decision on who should stand for the two-party bloc as the candidate to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has ruled out standing for a fifth term.
Tobias Hans, CDU premier of the tiny western state of Saarland, said ahead of a meeting of the CDU executive committee that he expected the group to back Laschet.
"It's clear that the CDU Executive Committee stands behind its party leader," Hans said.
As the larger partner in the CDU/CSU alliance, the CDU's choice of candidate is likely to be decisive, sources in the alliance say.
The CDU's wider federal board meets after the executive committee, or praesidium, and Laschet plans to hold a news conference at around 1 p.m. (1100 GMT). The CSU meets in the afternoon in Munich.
The CDU's executive committee in the city state of Berlin, where the party does not hold power, said it backed Soeder.
"Markus Soeder is the hands-on, successful crisis manager who can lead Germany out of the pandemic and make the country fit for the future," Kai Wegner, chairman of the CDU Berlin, said in a statement.
Laschet, 60, is a centrist widely seen as a candidate who would continue Merkel's legacy, but he has clashed with her over coronavirus restrictions. Premier of Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, his chaotic handling of the crisis has undermined his popularity.
Soeder, 54, is an astute political operator who has sided with Merkel during the pandemic. No CSU leader has become German chancellor.
Many conservatives are nervous about contesting the Sept. 26 federal election without Merkel, who has led them to four victories. She has not explicitly backed either candidate but has hinted that she would back the CDU leader.
