Germany’s Christian Democratic Union to hold national congress

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is planning to re-elect their entire federal executive committee today at the national congress.

This comes as Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to leave politics once a new coalition government is negotiated. Her successor and close ally, Armin Laschet, needs to be replaced, following a disastrous performance at the September election. Laschet was seen as an ally of Merkel and a staunch defender of her policies. The CDU garnered only 24.1% of the national vote and lost more than a quarter of its support compared to the 2017 election.

In light of this, Laschet has signaled that he will be stepping down from his role. He announced that he wants to moderate the renewal process and reorganize the CDU, in order to regain public support in future regional and national elections.

Expect the congress to discuss greater participation within the party in its search for new leadership candidates. There have been some disputes about generational change within the CDU, and several of its members have called for surveys to be conducted on party leadership, while others don’t think it’s necessary. The executive committee of the CDU will decide on these issues by November 2nd.

Wake up smarter with an assessment of the stories that will make headlines in the next 24 hours. Download The Daily Brief.