Merkel’s party to pick new leader | Goulburn Post

Germany’s Christian Democrats will elect a new chairman, aiming to unite their conservative party behind a new leader who they hope can succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor when she steps down after federal elections in September. At stake is the leadership of Europe’s biggest economy in the era after Merkel, who has vowed not to run again after becoming Europe’s predominant leader since taking office in 2005 and proving a winner with German voters. The new CDU leader will be elected by 1001 delegates at a digital congress on Saturday. By tradition, the leader is usually – though not always – the chancellor candidate for the CDU’s “Union” with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). Centrist Armin Laschet,…