Opinion: With Laschet, CDU will keep Angela Merkel s course
By electing Armin Laschet as leader, Germany s Christian Democrats have clearly decided not to significantly change the party that Angela Merkel made, DW s Katharina Kroll writes.
In Laschet, Christian Democrats saw a politician who seeks compromise like Merkel
North Rhine-Westphalia State Premier Armin Laschet promised the Christian Democrats (CDU) that he would continue the course set by Chancellor Angela Merkel. By electing him, delegates have shown that they would prefer a party leader who exemplifies trust and reliability and has chosen not to take risks in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Germany to put coronavirus protesters under observation
Seven elections
The balancing act between protecting public health and people s rights to freedom will also influence elections, and there are plenty of those in Germany in 2021.
Citizens will head to the polls in six of Germany s 16 states. In Baden-Württemberg, popular Premier Winfried Kretschmann the first and only state premier from the environmentalist Green party is standing for reelection in March. April will be interesting in Thuringia, where Bodo Ramelow is currently the sole state premier from the Left party.
In Saxony-Anhalt, it will be decided, at the latest, by the election in June whether the troubled coalition of the conservative Christian Democrats, center-left Social Democrats, and Greens will endure.