Merkel’s Successor Needn’t Be From Her Own Party, Contender Says

(Bloomberg) -- The next center-right candidate to be German chancellor doesn’t have to come from Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, according to one of three candidates to lead the party.

The CDU will in early December elect its new party leader, who in most cases has become the chancellor candidate for the two-party grouping that includes its Bavarian sister, the Christian Social Union. However, Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder -- who heads the CSU -- is currently far more popular with voters than any of the candidates.

One of the CDU hopefuls, former environment minister Norbert Roettgen, told Bloomberg News that while his ultimate goal is to become chancellor, the party should choose someone based on merit rather than their party affiliation.

The conservative bloc, which currently leads in the polls, “needs the best candidate,” Roettgen said in an interview at the Bundestag in Berlin. “That criteria applies to all, including myself, and I will abide by it.”

Roettgen, who is currently chair of parliament’s foreign relations committee, was widely regarded as an outside bet among the 1,001 CDU delegates, though some polls suggest he may have gained public-opinion support. His two opponents are North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Armin Laschet and former BlackRock Inc. director Friedrich Merz.

While Merz has ruled out giving way to a Soeder candidacy, Laschet has signaled that he may be open to the idea.

Merkel has repeatedly said that she doesn’t intend to run for a fifth term after her current mandate runs out in just under a year.

While Soeder emerged from the coronavirus crisis as one of the protagonists for his tough line in combating the pandemic, Laschet received flak for his more laissez-faire approach to numerous virus outbreaks in his state.

Last month Laschet, who represents the moderate faction of the CDU, gained some momentum as the party won municipal elections in his state. He has tried to bolster his profile and has proposed a series of economic measures to help pull Germany out of its worst recession in recent memory.

Roettgen has had a difficult relationship with Merkel after she fired him as environment minister in 2012. In the same year, he lost the state election in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Still, the 54-year-old lawyer says the race to lead his party is still wide open.

“I think, in the end, we’re all on the same start line.”

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.