Germany is About to Find Out Who's Likely to Replace Merkel as Leader

Germany's largest and dominant political party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), is holding a crucial vote to elect a new leader this coming weekend after Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would not run for the post and effectively started to wind down her political career, writes CNBC.

There are two main contenders for the party leadership but this vote, taking place at the party's Annual Congress in Hamburg on December 7-8, has larger significance in that the winner could become Germany's next chancellor.

Merkel said in October that she would not be running for re-election of chairwoman of the ruling conservative CDU back in October. She also confirmed that this, her fourth term, would be her last and she would not be seeking any political post after 2021.

Her announcement opened a leadership race for both the CDU and the ultimate prize (and responsibility) — leading Europe's largest economy and most influential political entity.

Who are the candidates?

There are actually twelve candidates for the party leadership but some candidates are more prominent, and popular, than others.

In essence, there are three main candidates for the role — Merkel's protegee Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (known colloquially as AKK), her conservative rival Friedrich Merz who used to be party whip (an enforcer of the party line during legislative votes), and Health Minister Jens Spahn.

The race is tighter between Kramp-Karrenbauer and Merz and these are seen as the frontrunners according to informal polls in which, generally, only a portion of the 1,001 delegates that are eligible to vote have voiced their voting intentions.

In a litmus test of delegates on December 1 by newspaper Bild Am Sonntag, only 269 said who they...

Continue reading on: