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dpa
Berlin
Friedrich Merz was named as the new leader of Germany’s centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) on Saturday, as the party seeks a new path while recovering from its worst-ever national election result last year.
In a poll at an online party conference, Merz, the sole candidate, garnered an overwhelming majority of 94.62 per cent, or 915 of 983 votes, according to the CDU, which counts abstentions as invalid votes.
Sixteen delegates abstained.
The online vote must still be confirmed by a postal vote, the results of which are to be announced on January 31.
By picking Merz, the centre-right party is signalling a willingness to swing in a more conservative direction.
Before the poll, Merz pointed to the party’s poor showing in the September elections and urged the party to unite going ahead. A “powerful signal of new beginnings and renewal for the CDU” emanated from the party conference, he said.
“We have not lost our self-confidence.” He noted the country’s new coalition government and said that is the precise reason Germany has a right to a CDU “that continues to serve the country, that provides answers to the pressing questions of our time” and that, as the opposition, makes the claim that it can once again be the government of tomorrow.
The new government - comprising the Social Democrats, Greens, and pro-business Free Democrats - took over in December, after 16 years of conservative rule under former chancellor Angela Merkel.
One thousand and one CDU delegates were eligible to vote in the online ballot, with only the top brass meeting at party headquarters in Berlin due to the pandemic.
They also elected five vice chairs, including premier of the state of Saxony Michael Kretschmer, education minister in Schleswig-Holstein Karin Prien, lawmakers Silvia Breher and Andreas Jung and economic politician Carsten Linnemann.
Berlin lawmaker Mario Czaja was elected new secretary general with 92.89 per cent of votes.
Merz is to succeed Armin Laschet, who led the party’s ill-fated 2021 election campaign. Support for Merz was cemented in a December poll of CDU members, in which he won 62.1 per cent of the ballots.
Laschet on Saturday called for more self-confidence and unity within his party following the devastating election result.
Berlin
Friedrich Merz was named as the new leader of Germany’s centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) on Saturday, as the party seeks a new path while recovering from its worst-ever national election result last year.
In a poll at an online party conference, Merz, the sole candidate, garnered an overwhelming majority of 94.62 per cent, or 915 of 983 votes, according to the CDU, which counts abstentions as invalid votes.
Sixteen delegates abstained.
The online vote must still be confirmed by a postal vote, the results of which are to be announced on January 31.
By picking Merz, the centre-right party is signalling a willingness to swing in a more conservative direction.
Before the poll, Merz pointed to the party’s poor showing in the September elections and urged the party to unite going ahead. A “powerful signal of new beginnings and renewal for the CDU” emanated from the party conference, he said.
“We have not lost our self-confidence.” He noted the country’s new coalition government and said that is the precise reason Germany has a right to a CDU “that continues to serve the country, that provides answers to the pressing questions of our time” and that, as the opposition, makes the claim that it can once again be the government of tomorrow.
The new government - comprising the Social Democrats, Greens, and pro-business Free Democrats - took over in December, after 16 years of conservative rule under former chancellor Angela Merkel.
One thousand and one CDU delegates were eligible to vote in the online ballot, with only the top brass meeting at party headquarters in Berlin due to the pandemic.
They also elected five vice chairs, including premier of the state of Saxony Michael Kretschmer, education minister in Schleswig-Holstein Karin Prien, lawmakers Silvia Breher and Andreas Jung and economic politician Carsten Linnemann.
Berlin lawmaker Mario Czaja was elected new secretary general with 92.89 per cent of votes.
Merz is to succeed Armin Laschet, who led the party’s ill-fated 2021 election campaign. Support for Merz was cemented in a December poll of CDU members, in which he won 62.1 per cent of the ballots.
Laschet on Saturday called for more self-confidence and unity within his party following the devastating election result.
