Germany's Laschet wins clear CDU backing to run as chancellor candidate

Armin Laschet, leader of Germany's Christian Democrats (CDU), won the backing of senior party members at an internal meeting to run as the conservative candidate to succeed Angela Merkel at a September federal election, party sources said on April 20.

With Chancellor Merkel stepping down after the election, pressure is mounting on the conservatives to agree on a candidate as its ratings wallow near a one-year low, hurt by the chaotic handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Laschet and Markus Soeder, who leads the CDU's Bavarian sister party CSU, have been at loggerheads over who is better placed to become the candidate to lead the conservative alliance, dubbed 'the Union', to an election victory.

By backing Laschet, 60, the CDU elite has prioritised its ascendancy in the conservative bloc over the prospect of being led to victory by Soeder, 54, who would then hold sway over the alliance and could potentially dominate it for years. read more

After more than six hours of debate going into the night, the CDU's federal executive committee voted in favour of Laschet with 31 out of 46 members which represents a majority of 77.5%, party sources said.

Soeder, who did not participate in the virtual CDU meeting, won the backing of nine members while six others abstained, according to the participants.

Earlier in the debate, Laschet said his conservative rival Soeder had made clear that he would accept the decision of the CDU federal executive committee, the sources said. "This is a very important signal," Laschet was quoted as saying.

Polls suggest that Soeder is more popular than Laschet, so the prospect of losing votes with Laschet as the candidate for chancellor has unnerved some members of his own CDU party.

The...