Germany's ruling party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) will elect its new party leader during an extraordinary congress in Berlin on April 25, Defense Minister and outgoing party chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th February, 2020) Germany's ruling party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) will elect its new party leader during an extraordinary congress in Berlin on April 25, Defense Minister and outgoing party chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced on Monday.
"We will hold a party congress on April 25, which will be held here in Berlin. A new chairman will be elected at this congress, which will be for us a clear signal on the issue of our candidate for the chancellorship," the outgoing chairwoman said at a press conference.
The CDU's presidium held a meeting on Monday to decide the date of the extraordinary congress. Kramp-Karrenbauer stated that all leading candidates in the race to become CDU chairman agreed to the date.
Outgoing chairwoman Kramp-Karrenbauer withdrew her candidacy for chancellorship on February 10, at the same time as she announced that she would step down as party leader. The defense minister was prompted to resign amid a scandal in the state of Thuringia, which saw CDU politicians defy a ban on cooperating with far-right parties. The Free Democratic Party's Thomas Kemmerich was elected as state premier with the support of both the CDU and the far-right Alternative for Germany.
The leading candidates for the GDU chairmanship include former Bundestag leader of the CDU and Christian Social Union Friedrich Merz, Health Minister Jens Spahn, North Rhine-Westphalia state premier Armin Laschet, and former Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen. Angela Merkel has announced that she will step down as chancellor in 2021.
