BERLIN: Germany’s governing conservative parties have failed to reach a consensus so far as they try to choose between two candidates to lead them into September elections - and possibly become the country’s next chancellor.
Despite repeated calls for a quick solution, including from the candidates themselves, opinions are split after a series of initial meetings by the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Christian Social Union(CSU) this week.
Armin Laschet from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU and Markus Soeder from the Bavarian CSU - both state premiers and heavyweight political figures - are in the running to become the conservative bloc’s single candidate for chancellor.
Merkel is stepping down after more than 15 years as chancellor.
Laschet has the backing of the leadership of the bigger CDU party, but Soeder is vastly preferred by the electorate according to opinion polls, and received widespread support in a meeting of the parliamentary faction on Tuesday.
Many lawmakers in marginal seats could lose their jobs if the CDU’s poll numbers continue to slide and they lose seats in the Bundestag.
A consensus choice was possible, but it is not clear “how that will actually come about,” senior CSU figure and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told reporters on Wednesday.
“I am seriously affected by this very difficult situation for the CDU and CSU,” he told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper. Laschet meanwhile won a solid endorsement from a key party figure on Wednesday.
Friedrich Merz, a former leader of the conservative bloc’s parliamentary faction and once a leadership contender himself, said he would stand by Laschet “even in critical days, when the wind is against him.”
In a representative survey by research institute Civey on behalf of the Augsburger Allgemeine, 58 per cent said they thought Soeder was right to declare his willingness to become the CDU/CSU bloc’s candidate for chancellor.
A total of 30 per cent said they believed Soeder was wrong to want to seek the top job, and 12 per cent said they were undecided.
According to the information from the conservative bloc, Soeder has considerable support: 86 per cent of CDU/CSU supporters welcomed Soeder’s candidacy. — dpa
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