Germany: ruling Christian Democratic Union party chooses new leader to succeed Merkel

It’s the end of an era in Germany, as German Counselor Angela Merkel’s party chooses a new leader to succeed her.

The German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) will vote on Friday as historic and the end of an era in the country, as the party will choose a new leader to succeed Angela Merkel after an 18-year rule.

Eckhard Jesse, a political expert at the University of Chemnitz, told AFP that the option of 1001 delegates to the largest German party during a conference in Hamburg will be historic because the party’s winner will become a consultant.

Observers consider the struggle for the leadership to be between the two main candidates, the general secretary of the party, Annegret Kramp Karrenbauer, 56, who has the nickname of “the second Merkel”, and the millionaire Friedrich Merz, 63, who defends the orientation of the party and the country in general to the right.

It was two days before the vote, things do not seem to be settled in favor of any of the main candidates, and a third candidate is unlikely to win a surprise victory in a conflict that depends on the future of the country and whether Merkel can complete her fourth term as the German Chancellor.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced her intention to step-down from the presidency of the party last October, after the disappointing results of the recent election in German that the party had achieved.