Merkel’s Party Delays Vote on New Leader as Election Nears
- Party officials will reassess virus situation in January
- Front-runner Merz opposed canceling December congress
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Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union canceled a December congress, delaying the process of electing a new leader who would be in prime position to run as the German chancellor’s potential successor in next year’s elections.
Party officials decided that a Dec. 4 convention in Stuttgart with 1,000 delegates will not take place because of rising coronavirus infections, Secretary General Paul Ziemiak said Monday in Berlin. The CDU’s top leadership will reassess the prospects for holding the gathering on Dec. 14. If the situation isn’t clearer by then, they will reconvene on Jan. 15.