CNBC reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative alliance finally selected a candidate to represent the center-right bloc in the country’s national election later this year, after months of uncertainty and delay.
Up until then, neither the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), nor its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), had been able to agree on who should lead the conservatives into the election on Sep. 26. Merkel announced in 2018 that she would not run for a fifth term in office.
At a meeting of the CDU’s board Monday night, however, a majority of senior party members voted to nominate Armin Laschet, the leader of the CDU and state-premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, as the candidate for chancellor for this year’s election.
Some 77.5% (31 members) of the party’s federal executive committee voted in favor of the party leader, according to reports from German news outlet Deutsche Welle and Reuters, citing sources, while his rival Markus Soeder, received just 9 votes.