(Bloomberg) -- Armin Laschet, the premier of Germany’s most populous state, and Friedrich Merz, a former director of BlackRock Inc., qualified for the final round of voting for the leadership of the Christian Democratic Union at an online convention on Saturday.
The runoff crystallizes the question facing Germany’s biggest party as it contemplates life without Chancellor Angela Merkel after September’s general election. The ballot pits a Merkel loyalist in Laschet against one of her most vehement critics in Merz. Norbert Roettgen, head of the foreign affairs committee in the Bundestag, was eliminated in the first round of voting.
The new CDU leader will have a brief window to prove himself before the CDU and its Bavarian sister party choose their joint candidate for chancellor after state elections in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate on March 14. A strong CDU performance at the polls would enhance the new party leader’s chances of clinching the nomination.
While the head of the CDU usually goes on to be the candidate for Germany’s conservative bloc, that step isn’t automatic this time. The Bavarian Christian Social Union will have an important say in the decision — and Markus Soeder, the CSU leader, is well ahead in polls.
The figure of the chancellor looms large over the election.
Continuity or Break?
“There are many people who like Angela Merkel first, and then the CDU,” said Laschet in an explicit acknowledgment of her standing with the public. He is pitching himself as a continuity candidate against the polarizing figure of Merz.
Merz, the most conservative of the three candidates, told delegates he wouldn’t cooperate with the far-right Alternative for Germany. He struck a few awkward notes on the podium, including when he said he didn’t have a problem with women.
“If that were the case, my daughters would have long ago shown me a yellow card and my wife wouldn’t have married me 40 years ago,” he said.
Merkel called on her party to avoid infighting over its leadership in the buildup.
Her succession plan was upended nearly a year ago when her protegee-- outgoing Chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer -- announced she would step aside following a series of gaffes and leadership challenges. Now, as the final term of Europe’s longest-serving leader nears its end, 1,001 Christian Democrats will choose one of two men to chart a course into the future.
The party convention has been delayed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic and was held online to adhere to Germany’s hygiene and distancing rules. That presented the party with a number of challenges, including ensuring delegates -- many in their 70s -- could manage the digital voting process.
The CDU is also going to great lengths to ensure systems aren’t hacked and will follow up the online vote with a mail-in ballot -- with the winner being the only option -- to abide by German laws. Any hiccups could spur legal challenges.
The new CDU leader faces a challenging political environment. The Greens were on par with the conservative bloc before the coronavirus crisis, and the AfD -- which arose from dissatisfaction with Merkel’s policies -- is nipping at its support. But the conservative bloc maintains a comfortable lead in the polls, thanks to Merkel’s steady leadership and her shift to the center.