Friedrich Merz Elected Chairman of Germany's Christian Democratic Union - Reports
12:02 GMT, 22 January 2022
BERLIN (Sputnik) - On Saturday, Friedrich Merz was elected the new chairman of the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) during an online congress with 95% of the vote, according to a live stream by the German broadcaster Phoenix.
SputnikHe succeeds Armin Laschet.
In December, Merz's candidacy for the party leadership was agreed upon after a first-ever poll of CDU members.
Merz has tried to become leader of the party twice, losing to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in 2018, and then to Laschet in 2021.