Germany's CDU to decide on Merkel successor in April or May: party sources

18:17, February 24, 2020

• 

  German conservatives brood over Merkel's successor

  Photo: Germanys Chancellor Angela Merkel leaves at the end of the special European Council summit in Brussels on February 21, 2020. /AFPGermanys conservatives are expected to unveil their new leadership Monday, as Angela Merkels party puzzles over how to prepare for the veteran chancellors departure next year.Ratcheting up the challenge for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is an internal crisis over how it should position itself against the extremes of right and left that have reshaped the nations political landscape.After announcing her resignation earlier this month, CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer -- widely known as "AKK" -- is to reveal her plans around midday.She will go public a day after the party suffered its second-worst result ever in a regional election, placing third in city-state Hamburg with just 11.5 percent of votes.German media reported that leaders would likely put off the key question of who should lead the party as chancellor candidate in upcoming parliamentary elections, planned at the latest for autumn 2021.Meanwhile, an extraordinary party congress in May or June should anoint a new party chairman -- unless the CDU opts for a stop-gap solution that shares power among the contenders to avoid a damaging internal dust-up.- Far-right crisi-AKK launched the race to succeed Merkel after barely a year as head of the party, by announcing her resignation on February 10.Regional lawmakers in the eastern state of Thuringia had defied an edict from Berlin not to ally with the extremes, by voting with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).It was the latest sign that the defence minister had failed to stamp her authority on the CDU and become a credible candidate to succeed Merkel.AKK initially planned a quick departure, hoping to elevate a successor who would also lead the party into the 2021 election.But her own example shows how difficult it is for a party chief to make their mark while the phenomenally ...

• 

  Merkel’s party punished by voters in Hamburg state election

  Supporters of Germanys Social Democrats (SPD) celebrate after exit poll results were announced on public broadcaster TV ZDF during the election for a new parliament in German city-state Hamburg on Sunday in Hamburg. (Photo: AFP)Voters handed German Chancellor Angela Merkels conservatives their worst-ever result in Hamburg on Sunday, punishing them for flirting with the far-right in an eastern state and descending into a messy leadership battle.Preliminary results also showed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) just scraping into the Hamburg parliament, only four days after a racist gunman killed 11 people, including himself, in the western town of Hanau.The Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens celebrated in Germanys second-biggest city after taking first and second place, meaning they will probably keep ruling together in the northern port and city-state.The conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) suffered after party leader and Merkel protegee Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said she would stand aside, blowing open the race to succeed the chancellor and throwing the party into turmoil.The CDU slipped into third place, scoring just 11.2 percent. The AfD, which has capitalized on anger over Merkels open-door migrant policy, especially in former East Germany, won 5.3 percent, just over the five percent threshold needed to get into the state parliament, according to the preliminary results.Kramp-Karrenbauers move came after an eastern branch of the CDU defied the national party and voted with the AfD to install a state premier from a third party - breaking a postwar consensus among established parties of shunning the far-right.The CDU leadership team meets on Monday and Kramp-Karrenbauer is expected to set out a timetable for a decision on the party chair and possibly the chancellor candidate. Four or five candidates are jockeying for the jobs.Merkel, chancellor for almost 15 years, has said she will not run again in the next federal election, d...

• 

  Merkel slams 'poison' of racism after Germany shootings

  Counter-terror prosecutors investigating the case said they saw "a xenophobic motive" behind the deadly Germany shootings.(Photo: AFP)Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the "poison" of racism Thursday after a shooter with suspected far-right beliefs killed nine people at a shisha bar and a cafe in the German city of Hanau.All nine dead, aged between 21 and 44, had a "migrant background," although some were German citizens, chief federal prosecutor Peter Frank said.Six others were injured, including one critically.The suspect, identified as 43-year-old German Tobias R., was found dead at his home following an hours-long manhunt.The body of his 72-year-old mother was also found at the flat in what appeared to be a murder-suicide.Prosecutor Frank said evidence, including video and a 24-page "manifesto" found on the suspects website, "shows a very deeply racist attitude"."Racism is a poison, hatred is a poison and this poison exists in our society and it is already to blame for far too many crimes," Merkel said in Berlin.Among the dead were "several victims of Kurdish origin", the Kon-Med association of Kurds in Germany said in a statement, adding that it was "furious" that authorities were not doing more to combat rising extremism.Tears and angerThe rampage started at around 10:00 pm (2100 GMT) Wednesday at the Midnight shisha bar in central Hanau, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Frankfurt.The gunman reportedly rang the doorbell and then shot at people in the smoking section, mass-market daily Bild said.He fled the scene by car before opening fire at the Arena Bar & Cafe, with witnesses reporting hearing a dozen shots.Relatives and friends of the victims gathered at the Arena bar around midday Thursday, an AFP reporter said, tearfully embracing one another.Police hurried to cover up the address of the perpetrators website with a blue plastic sheet after it wa...