German Ruling Party’s New Leader Armin Laschet : All To Know About

Armin Laschet (59), the premier of Germany’s most populous state North-Rhine Westphalia, is the new leader of the country’s ruling conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He is very loyal to the country’s current Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Laschet has been elected as the head of the party at its 33rd Congress held virtually in Berlin on January 16, succeeding Angela Merkel (66) who has been Chancellor of the country since 2005.

Merkel, Forbes’ most powerful woman for 10th consecutive times now, also served as the leader of the party CDU from 2000 to 2018.

Being the new leader of CDU does not necessarily mean that Laschet will be the new Chancellor or the Head of the government pending general election in September this year. But the win of the party leadership at least paves the way for the same.

Armin Laschet’s Brief Profile :
Born : February 18, 1961 (age 59 years), Aachen, Germany.
Political Status : Premier of North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, since June 2017.
Height: 1.7 m
Spouse: Susanne Laschet
Party :  Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Children: Johannes Laschet, Julius Laschet, Eva Laschet
Education :  Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn.

Laschet’s major challengers to that goal are Markus Söder, Bavarian State Premier who leads the CSU, a smaller party based in the state, and Jens Spahn of the CDU as they both are considering to run as the leadership candidate from the CDU in the next election with the view of becoming the next head of the government if the party becomes victorious ultimately.

Notably both Markus Söder and Jens Spahn have outperformed Laschet in opinion polls in recent times.

It should be noted that the CDU has led Germany’s federal government for 52 of the past 72 years. Chancellor Merkel is expected to take a bye from active politics post the general election in September.

To get further info on Armin Laschet’s political background, vision and attitudes, one can surf the following link as well : 

https://www.politico.eu/article/5-things-to-know-about-german-cdu-chief-armin-laschet/