By electing Armin Laschet as leader, Germany's Christian Democrats have clearly decided not to significantly change the party that Angela Merkel made, DW's Katharina Kroll writes.
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In Laschet, Christian Democrats saw a politician who seeks compromise — like MerkelImage: Hannibal Hanschke/REUTERS
North Rhine-Westphalia State Premier Armin Laschet promised the Christian Democrats (CDU) that he would continue the course set by Chancellor Angela Merkel. By electing him, delegates have shown that they would prefer a party leader who exemplifies trust and reliability and has chosen not to take risks in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Whether Laschet will also be put forward as the party's chancellor candidate is a decision that will not be made for months. Nevertheless, he has made his interest in Merkel's other job clear, as well.
DW's Katharina KrollImage: K. Kroll
Laschet has two likely rivals for that role — and they're both performing well in opinion polls: Health Minister Jens Spahn, who backed Laschet's campaign to head the party, and Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder, the leader of the CDU-aligned Christian Social Union. Spahn has made himself a constant media presence over the course of the pandemic, and in December even surpassed Merkel in popularity.
Regardless of his own personal desires, Christian Democrats trust Laschet to do what he thinks is best for the CDU when the time comes to pick the party's chancellor candidate for elections scheduled for the autumn. The same cannot necessarily be said of the businessman Friedrich Merz, the loser of Saturday's runoff to lead the party, after a third candidate, the Bundestag deputy Norbert Röttgen, was defeated in an earlier round of voting.
Faced with an important decision about what direction to take, the delegates clearly opted against veering to the right with Merz. He had offered the party a more socially conservative and economically liberal profile.
Laschet's main task now will be to keep the CDU together. He pledged not to break with Merkel's recipe for success, which means that the party could continue to draw on a relatively broad base of supporters.
Uniting the CDU
Laschet's will only be the party's chancellor candidate if he can unite the CDU behind him. Unlike the polarizing Merz, who nevertheless has his fervent fans, Laschet offers for negotiation and balance. That is why a majority of the delegates chose him to lead the party.
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Merkel, too, prefers negotiation and balance, solutions and compromises. She embodies patient debate and cooperation, and her approach has gained her enormous respect abroad, particularly within the European Union. Germany's international partners will not likely face confrontation with Laschet as leader. He is a proponent of the European Union and trans-Atlanticism; his approach to foreign policy does not differ much from Merkel's. He has also been a staunch supporter of her asylum policies.
In his campaign to lead the CDU, Laschet put party first. He has a warm and jolly character, and his approach is one of togetherness and openness. In North Rhine-Westphalia, he built a Cabinet of specialists, and this has helped his popularity.
The CDU performs better in polls than any other party. This is largely thanks to Merkel's popularity, however, and most respondents have indicated that they do not want Laschet to be Germany's next chancellor.
Politics is less predictable than ever these days. Voters will cast their ballots according to whether they believe that politicians have responded adequately to the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, the next leg of the race to replace Angela Merkel has begun.
Angela Merkel: 16 years as German chancellor
Angela Merkel has been German chancellor since 2005. Here are some major moments in her long tenure that led the country through a period of tremendous change.
'Kohl's girl' no longer
Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl and other political insiders once called her his "girl." Merkel stepped out of his shadow in 2001, when she led the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) in the opposition. But her real moment came in 2005.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Altwein
Narrow victory
In the 2005 general election, the CDU, along with its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, eked out a win over the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), led by then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. It was actually the CDU's worst election performance in its history and an inauspicious start for Merkel, but she hit the ground running.
Image: Stefan Sauer/dpa/picture alliance
A new chancellor
The CDU and SPD formed a "grand coalition" government and Merkel became the first woman, first former East German and the first scientist to become chancellor — as well as the youngest person ever to hold the position.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Reiss
Host with the most
Merkel quickly showed prowess. At the G8 summit in 2007, she welcomed the leaders of the eight largest economies to Heiligendamm, on the Baltic Sea. She joked around with then-US President George W. Bush (left) and Russia's Vladimir Putin (right).
Image: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images
Boys being boys
On the European political stage in the fall of 2008, Merkel had to share the spotlight with the big male egos of French President Nicolas Sarkozy (front) and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The growing financial crisis quickly became the European Union's most pressing concern.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Cerles
Help or hinder?
The public debt of some European Union member states kept growing, threatening the very existence of the euro as a currency. Merkel's offer to help came with austerity demands. That did not go down well, especially in Greece, where newspapers ran images comparing the moment to Nazi Germany's occupation in World War II.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Panagiotou
Reluctant campaigner
Merkel is not the best orator. Her speeches are often halting and she rarely goes into depth on policy. Yet her quiet pragmatism and sober modesty have won wide appeal. That has helped her run four governments.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gentsch
'Mutti'
At some point in her long tenure, Merkel went from chancellor of the country to mother of the nation. She was sometimes referred to by supporters and opponents alike as "Mutti," a rather old-fashioned word for "mom." It can be meant a little sarcastically, but it's often also said with affection, as in this Merkel supporter's poster, a play on words that translates as "fully Mutti-vated."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Anspach
'We can do this'
Few of Merkel's statements have had such a lasting impact as the one above. The chancellor won widespread praise in 2015 for staying committed to the EU's open-border policy and allowing more than 1 million migrants and refugees, many escaping the Syrian war, to enter Germany and the bloc. A vocal minority, however, pushed back against open migration.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
Time's 'Person of the Year'
Time magazine named Merkel its "Person of the Year" in 2015, and even "chancellor of the free world." She has shown her mettle in the face of multiple crises, whether financial, social or political.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Time Magazine
Model of discretion
Merkel is discreet. She remains silent on her personal thoughts about less agreeable leaders, and deals with them as a matter of state interest.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Loeb
Down-to-earth
Merkel knows what a liter of milk costs, and years leading the country seem not to have gone to her head. Here in 2014, she visited a Berlin supermarket with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. It's not unusual to spot the chancellor doing the grocery shopping on her own in downtown Berlin.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/L.Schulze
Diamond of trust
Merkel is known for holding her hands together in a diamond shape. She has said it helps her stand up straight. And it has helped the CDU: The party used the diamond symbol on campaign posters for the 2013 general election. It became synonymous with trust and calm.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Simon
A private life
Merkel is a very private person. The public knows little more than the fact that her husband, Joachim Sauer, is also a scientist. The two have spent many Easters on the Italian island of Ischia. Due to the global travel slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was the obvious exception.
Image: picture-alliance/ANSA/R. Olimpio
And then came COVID
The coronavirus pandemic has changed much more in Germany than Merkel's travel habits. The country — and other nations — turned to her for answers in the crisis. Her serious, fact-based style has boosted her popularity.
Image: Johanna Geron/Reuters
Auf Wiedersehen, Frau Dr. Merkel
Two years ago, Merkel made clear that she would not seek reelection in 2021. When she goes, she'll have served for 16 years — matching the record of her mentor Helmut Kohl, Germany's longest-serving chancellor.
