Two conservatives declare bids in race to succeed Merkel

By AFP
April 12, 2021

Berlin: The head of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party and its smaller Bavarian sister party both declared themselves willing to run for chancellor on Sunday, with the bloc poised to decide who will represent it in the race to succeed the veteran leader in September elections.

CDU chief Armin Laschet and Markus Soeder, the head of the smaller Bavarian CSU party, both told reporters they were open to being the centre-right alliance’s candidate for chancellor during a crunch meeting of conservative MPs in Berlin.