this january ahman lashed was elected

the chairperson of the christian

democratic union or cdu

which is germany’s ruling party

lachet’s election is a significant

development for two reasons

firstly because germany goes to polls in

september

secondly because angela merkel who has

led the cdu for nearly two decades

won’t be running for chancellorship

again

there is a lot at stake on who succeeds

merkel

59 year old lachette is the premiere of

north rhine westphalia

germany’s most populous state

a lawyer by training lachet has served

as a member of the european parliament

as merkel’s confidante he is expected to

continue her policies across

the board from economy to immigration

and foreign policy

a digital vote was held on january 16

and lachet won by a narrow margin

of 521-466

he poured 53 percent of the votes to

beat his arch-conservative opponent

friedrich mers

merkel’s successor faces two challenges

first to hold the cdu together by

keeping both the conservatives and the

liberals within the party happy

the second challenge is to form an

alliance with a suitable rival so that

the cdu csu returns to power post

september

but not everyone is convinced blushed

can step into merkel’s shoes

he has won the leadership battle in the

cdu but he lacks in popularity

while lachette may not top popularity

charts domestically his election has

elicited near unanimous approval

internationally

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