Feature Image Credits: The Conversation, NBC News
Angela Merkel’s continuity candidate, the centrist conservative Armin Laschet, has beaten one of her longest-standing rivals in the contest to lead Germany’s Christian Democratic Union.
In a digitally-held party congress, Laschet beat the conservative hardliner Friedrich Merz by 521 to 466 votes in a run-off vote, following a strong speech that emphasised social cohesion and held up recent scenes from Washington DC as a warning example of divisive leadership. Armin will succeed Angela Merkel, their current chancellor. This will mark the end of an era and a new beginning for the country as well as the relations it has for the rest of Europe.
As the conservative Christian Democratic Union continues to remain the most popular party even despite Merkel stepping down, it is an undeniable truth that Merkel has remained a constant through various crises that the country went through for the past 15 years. It is to be noted that, under Markel, Germany allowed millions of refugees from the Middle East which created a huge law and order problem over the years, as well as imposing a massive burden on the German economy.
Armin Laschet, Friedrich Merz, and Norbert Röttgen were the three contenders who were vying for her place as Angela resigned from her position. All of them hail from North Rhine-Westphalia but have different ideologies politically.