Merkel’s ally Armin Laschet wins race to lead her party, kicking off German election campaign

Laschet – the state premier of Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia – has pledged to continue Merkel’s moderate course

Merkel, elected as Germany’s youngest and first female chancellor in 2005, is planning to stand down after four terms and 16 years in the job

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Armin Laschet speaks during a CDU party virtual party congress in Berlin. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:27pm, 16 Jan 2021Updated: 9:45pm, 16 Jan 2021

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU party on Saturday picked her ally Armin Laschet as its next leader, in a vote that kicks off the race for Germany’s top job as a deadly pandemic roils Europe’s biggest economy.

In the close race, Laschet, the state premier of Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, triumphed over old Merkel nemesis Friedrich Merz, after a first round that saw Merz leading by just five votes.

A third hopeful, foreign affairs expert Norbert Roettgen, was knocked out of the race.

Merz had campaigned on a promise to shift away from Merkel’s centrist path and steer right, writing in a column for Der Spiegel that a “happy ‘carry on like this’ is just as inappropriate as the vague claim to occupy the centre at all times”.

In contrast, Laschet pledged to continue with Merkel’s more moderate course.

In a speech minutes before the vote on Saturday, Laschet called for “continuity” and highlighted the challenge of retaining CDU voters without Merkel at the top.