As many as 1,001 delegates from Germany’s ruling political party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), will be meeting in Hamburg today to choose a new party leader to succeed German Chancellor and current party leader Angela Merkel, who’s led the CDU for the last 18 years, reports the Deccan Herald.

Merkel had announced her decision to step down from the party’s helm in October this year. Three notable contenders have been campaigning across Germany to raise support for their bids to succeed her.

The leadership race is predicted to be a close contest between party general secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who is believed to be Merkel’s preferred successor, and former leader of the CDU’s parliamentary group Friedrich Merz, who is known for his more conservative stance and is attempting a comeback at the political forefront after an absence of about 10 years.

The third candidate is Health Minister Jens Spahn, a critic of Merkel, who is seen as a political outsider. The 38-year old represents a generation-wide gap from the favourites Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56 and Merz, 63.

The leadership contest is critical since the new CDU leader has favourable odds to succeed Merkel as chancellor in 2021 when she completes her term, or even sooner if early elections are held.

Merkel has been German Chancellor continuously since 2005, although the CDU’s centre-right block has seen its popularity plummet along with the chancellor’s due to the public dismay over how she handled the 2015 migration crisis.

The CDU has lost supporters to both extremes of the political spectrum, with both the right-wing nationalist party Alternative für Deutschland as well as the leftist Greens soaring in opinion polls at the cost of the ruling party.

Christian Democratic Union

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