Angela Merkel starts saying goodbye to German (and world) politics

The German Conservative Party CDU will choose This Saturday to the successor of Angela Merkel, the woman who set fire to the politics of Germany, Europe and the world for years and will step down this year after 16 years old as chancellor.

Considered by many to be “the leader of the free world” after the assumption of Donald trump and its policy against alliances and international cooperation, Merkel had previously announced that she would step down in 2021, which paved the way for the fight for the leadership of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and his Bavarian brother, the Social Christian Union (CSU) for the general elections in the European country in September this year.

The CDU will elect its new president this Saturday, a key vote in view of Merkel’s succession. The winner will be well placed to be the party’s candidate for chancellor in the Parliamentary election of September 26.

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But the CDU presidency does not automatically guarantee you this privilege, as the party leader for the elections is appointed later and there may be other contenders for the post.

Three men are the main candidates for the head of Merkel’s party, a decision that will affect 1001 delegates of the CDU: the moderates Armin Laschet; a candidate more closely followed on the right, Friedrich merz; and the independent Norbert Röttgen.

The result of the vote, two towers and organized online or by mail, it should be close. It will be announced on Saturday at a congress to be held online due to the Covid-19.

The election, which has been repeatedly postponed due to the epidemic, follows the resignation of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was Merkel’s natural heir but ended up resigning because she could not prevail over her activists.

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Among the three candidates, the closest to Merkel, who enjoys great popularity, is Armin Laschet, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous federal state and the industrial heart of the country.

Analysts believe that in order to reach the party leadership, which is leading the polls for the September elections, Laschet of 59 years old, will continue the legacy of political center of the current chancellor, whom he supported in 2015 when he allowed the arrival of a million immigrants for the country.

On the contrary, Merkel’s harshest critic is Friedrich Merz, a successful corporate lawyer from 65 years, that Kramp-Karrenbauer narrowly defeated in the party leadership election in 2018.

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A former rising star in the Tories, Merz first left politics 2009, resign from his parliamentary post to pursue a career in business after losing a power struggle at the CDU to Merkel. He has great appeal among party members and made a name for himself decades ago championing the national identity Germany, reject it multiculturalism and affirm that the German culture It should be the dominant cultural force in the country.

Defender of economic liberalism and with a very hard position on immigration, Merz seeks the support of voters increasingly convinced by the far right. In a recent speech, he linked homosexuality to pedophilia and criticized the restrictions applied by Merkel during the Christmas to control the new Covid-19 epidemic.

The third candidate, Norbert Röttgen, expert in international relations of 55 years, seems to be the perfect one Independent. He assures that he does not belong to any “side” and promises to rejuvenate and feminize the party. Today he is the head of the German Parliament’s International Affairs Committee, where he advocated for closer ties with United States and stay further Russia.

SF