Merkel’s departure divides the Conservatives in the battle of succession

Photographer: Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz / Bloomberg

Bavarian leader Markus Soeder joined the race to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel after Germany’s elections in September, settling a fight with the head of her Christian Democratic Union over the nomination to her Conservative government bloc.

Soeder and CDU party president Armin Laschet on Sunday declared their candidacy for chancellery at a press conference in Berlin, which led to a potential decision as early as this week. The CDU leadership committees and Soeder’s Christian Social Union party meet separately on Monday to set the stage for the next steps of the nomination.

Merkel, 66, will not run for another term and her departure after 16 years in office has opened the field to who will lead Europe’s largest economy. He has not taken part in the race, although Laschet is from his party.

“The cards are on the table now,” Soeder, who heads the CSU, told ARD television, adding that the electoral challenge facing Merkel’s bloc is “serious.”

The Bavarian prime minister conducted polls suggesting he was more popular than his rival, and said it was important for the Conservative candidate to have strong support among party members and the general public.

Soeder’s chances could depend on whether both parties agree that their leadership members should remove the candidacy or decide to open it. Until its joint parliamentary group in Berlin, where many lawmakers support Soeder. Laschet told ARD that he will ask the CDU national leadership on Monday to support his candidacy.

Stable policy

“Our goal at the moment, with a chancellor leaving office, is to foster as much unity as possible between the CDU and the CSU,” Laschet told reporters. “There is a lot at stake. Europe is watching Germany develop. “

The CDU and the CSU traditionally present a joint candidate for chancellor. Soeder’s entry marks a glove contest between two sister parties whose alliance has helped ensure Germany’s political stability since the end of World War II. His announcement throws the ball into the CDU field.

While Merkel and Soeder clashed during Germany’s refugee crisis in 2015, the leader of Bavaria’s CSU regional party has backed her push for restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Laschet, meanwhile, was criticized by Merkel for a lax response to her home state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

“We determined that we are both fit and we are both ready,” Soeder told reporters after the meeting. “Whatever the decision, we will work very well together personally.”

On Sunday, both candidates backed the rapid passage of Merkel’s planned changes to German infectious disease law, which would transfer some powers to the federal government of the states. Other state leaders have demanded changes to the the bill was released on Saturday.

Popularity contest

National polls place support for CDU-CSU at between 26% and 28%, compared to almost 33% of the vote in the last election in 2017. The Social Democrats, a partner in Merkel’s coalition at the national level, have also decreased. The Green Party, which took 8.9% last time, is polling up to 23%, increasing the chances of it being part of the next government.