As all three hail from North Rhine-Westphalia, CDU peacemakers hope they might broker a deal among themselves rather than air the party’s cleavages in a public contest. In 2018 Mrs Merkel quit the CDU leadership after 18 years. In a rare, if camouflaged, flash of disloyalty towards her mentor, Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer said as much in her resignation speech. It was widely speculated that AKK—sometimes nicknamed “mini-Merkel“—would become Germany’s next Chancellor in the 2021 elections. All rights reserved. “The chances of Merkel staying in power are a lot lower now,” said Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at Cologne University in an interview. So far, the same pair have merely hinted at possible candidacies, while Mr Laschet has kept his counsel. The couple’s allegations of racism in the royal family have raised questions in nations with historic ties to Britain, many of them former colonies. Her decision to bow out thus blows German politics wide open. COVID-19 vaccines are now being administered to healthcare workers in the U.S. What are your questions about the timeline, the safety or the science? Meghan and Harry interview raises issue of race in Commonwealth countries. Column: ‘It feels like a second-class shot.’ Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine equity problem. . European lawmakers are to debate a resolution declaring the European Union a ‘freedom zone’ for LGBTQ people, despite rising homophobia in some parts. BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel's designated successor unexpectedly threw in the towel Monday, plunging her conservative party into … “Merkel had hand-picked the weakest possible successor she could find in the hopes that she could stay in power as long as she wanted. Unlike Mr Merz, who carries an unmistakable whiff of the 1990s, Mr Spahn can credibly claim to stand for a new start. Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, Harry and Meghan’s son, is seventh in line to the British throne but is not a prince, thanks to King George V. U.S. to buy additional 100 million Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses. . Coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic and health news. Angela Merkel’s designated successor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer will quit her role as head of the Germany’s strongest party in summer and won’t stand for the chancellorship. The Alternative for Germany siphoned away millions of votes from the Christian Democrats and cost the party dearly in regional elections. And so the contenders to lead the CDU/CSU into the next election will have to tread carefully. Angela Merkel's designated successor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer will quit her role as head of the Germany's strongest party in summer and won't stand for the chancellorship. “I’ve got a lot of respect for AKK’s decision, but this still really hurts,” said Markus Soeder, the Bavarian governor and head of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria who is considered by many to be a possible successor to Merkel. German politics upended as Merkel's heir apparent quits. As more Americans line up for COVID-19 vaccines, children have been excluded. Germany's Kramp-Karrenbauer to Step Down as CDU Leader Angela Merkel inserted herself into the selection of her Christian Democratic party’s … Biden calls his approach “a foreign policy for the middle class,” and he says the goal is to ensure that it makes life better for working families. China and Russia plan to build a lunar research station, possibly on the moon’s surface, marking the start of a new era in their space cooperation. ■, This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline "Trouble at the top", A daily email with the best of our journalism, Published since September 1843 to take part in “a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress.”. Angela Merkel’s presumed successor quits as party boss Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer’s resignation starts a scuffle for power Europe Feb 15th 2020 edition F … He has maintained a steady profile since, flying to party meetings around Germany (often personally: he has a pilot’s licence), where adoring crowds lap up his pro-business, socially conservative line. Markus Söder, leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the CDU’s Bavarian partner, urges a faster pace, fearing an extended airing of the CDU’s agonies would affect his own party’s fortunes. Kramp-Karrenbauer, who will remain Germany’s defense minister, plans to stay on as party leader until a new one is chosen. Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2021. AKK, who currently serves the Minister of Defense, became the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) at the end of 2018. European lawmakers debate declaring entire EU an LGBTQ ‘freedom zone’. Kramp-Karrenbauer said Monday that the Christian Democrats party had been weakened by the split of the party leader and chancellor jobs in late 2018. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) The Associated Press. The move was unprecedented in post-World War II Germany and has hurt the stability of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s federal coalition with its center-left partners. Angela Merkel's designated successor will quit her role as head of the Germany's strongest party and won't stand for the chancellorship following a debacle in a regional election “We’re stronger when the two jobs are held by the same person. February 10, 2020, 12:57 AM. The conservatives are currently in a grand coalition with the SPD. “Our next candidate for chancellor won’t be elected as chancellor if we continue to carry on like this,” said Wolfgang Schaeuble, long a powerful leader in the Christian Democrats who was briefly chairman as well in 1998 to 2000. During Mrs Merkel’s long reign the CDU’s repeated election wins trumped concerns over her mushy centrism and lethargic leadership. But public health officials must address the false narrative that it’s a lesser vaccine. ”I will not be the candidate for chancellor,” Kramp-Karrenbauer told a news conference in Berlin. Biden to restrict U.S. aid to Central American governments, set new conditions for money. Affable, moderate and subtly subversive, Mr Laschet’s biggest asset is his control of Germany’s most populous state (and the CDU’s largest branch); as a country it would be the EU’s sixth-biggest economy. Germany will hold its next general election in fall 2021 and Merkel, who has led the country for 15 years, has said she will not run for a fifth term as chancellor. Analysts and former Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said her surprise announcement nevertheless could open the door for early elections this year. The air in Berlin is thick with scheming and the CDU is quivering with anxiety. Yet aside from the procedural complexities (the CSU must back a joint chancellor-candidate but has no role in the CDU’s leadership race), whoever takes up the job will face the same problem that bedevilled Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer: how to retain authority when real power resides with a chancellor who may be in office until the end of next year. German leader Angela Merkel’s chosen successor to step down as party leader, creating political crisis Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told leading members of … COVID-19 vaccines for children and teens are coming, experts say. The gamble didn’t work out. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s designated successor unexpectedly threw in the towel Monday, plunging her conservative party into deeper crisis as it struggles to agree on its future political direction after losing votes to the far right. China, Russia agree to build lunar research station. For many months the tensions inside the CDU have been bubbling away like subterranean magma. Source The Economist. By forcing her party to confront its deep divisions, Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer has thrown German politics into a new era of uncertainty. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's designated successor unexpectedly threw in the towel Monday, plunging her conservative party into deeper crisis “It’s important that we thoroughly clear up the conservative position on policy and candidate.”. “This is an unusually grave situation for the Christian Democrats — for all Christian Democrats,” Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, a close Merkel ally, told reporters outside Christian Democrat party headquarters ahead of a meeting with other leaders to discuss the resignation. The Christian Democrats, who have ruled Germany for 51 of the last 71 years, have been the epitome of stability for most of those decades. Mr Merz reckons that fishing in the pool of AfD support can restore the CDU to over 35% of the vote. So when her chosen successor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, announced on Monday that she would step aside, it was Ms. Merkel… That seems unlikely; for all its problems the CDU is still likely to provide Germany’s next chancellor. Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was elected party chair 14 months ago, was unable to stop her Christian Democrat party members in Thuringia from aligning themselves with the normally ostracized Alternative for Germany party. Kramp-Karrenbauer became party leader while Merkel remained chancellor but said she would not run for a fifth term in an election scheduled for fall 2021. 10 Feb 2020 2 BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s designated successor unexpectedly threw in the towel Monday, plunging her conservative party into deeper crisis as it struggles to agree on its future political direction after losing votes to the far right. This “dam break”, the first time AfD votes had secured such an office, so horrified Germany that Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer had to try to repair the damage. Early polls give him a head-start (see chart). But that is expected to change by the fall, Dr. Anthony Fauci says. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) FRANK JORDANS. With her succession plans in ruins, some say the best way for Mrs Merkel to clean up the mess she caused would be to resign, probably triggering an election. Germany’s original Volkspartei (people’s party), capacious enough for everyone, now risks splintering across its many faultlines: centrist v conservative; for and against Merkelism; how to handle the AfD in the east—Thuringia remains unsolved, and may not be a one-off. First published on Mon 10 Feb 2020 04.03 EST Angela Merkel’s designated successor has announced she is not planning to run for the German chancellorship at the … The conservatives are still Germany’s most popular party, according to opinion polls that put them at about 28% of eligible voters. The conservatives long tried to conceal deeper divisions about Merkel, who gradually moved her party to the political center but upset many of its conservatives in the process. AKK’s tenure as party leader, however, has not gone as well as expected. But her efforts floundered, the party split and she was undermined when Angela Merkel, the chancellor, chimed in to condemn the result from a state visit in Pretoria, over 5,000 miles (8,000km) away. Angela Merkel’s presumed successor quits as party boss, After a year, Berlin’s experiment with rent control is a failure, Despot, genius or both? Angela Merkel’s presumed successor quits as party boss. A search is underway for a man in connection with a homicide in New Jersey and the slayings of four people found dead in a New Mexico airport garage. When the party elected Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed her, the road to the chancellery looked clear.