BERLIN – The two leading parties in Germany announced their candidacy for chancellor on Monday and early Tuesday morning, with the Greens taking on their dynamic but inexperienced leader, Annalena Baerbock (40), in the fight against Armin Laschet (60), the leader of the largest Conservative party, which triumphed after a divisive public power struggle.
Together with Olaf Scholz (62), who is running for the Social Democrats, the nominations strengthened the field of candidates who wanted to replace Angela Merkel, who will leave the political stage after 16 years as chancellor in September. The race will feature a member of the country after reunification, Ms. Baerbock, for the first time, speaks out against his traditional political forces.
With polls showing the Greens in second place nationally behind the Conservatives, with the support of about 22 percent, the Greens have, for the first time since the party adopted its modern form in 1993, a real blow to the Chancellor. Me. Baerbock is the Greens’ first serious candidate for chancellor, although she would most likely have had to rely on the support of other parties to form a coalition government.
The choice of the conservatives over mr. Laschet, leader of the Christian Democratic Union and governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, is following days of divisive debate, reflecting the challenges facing conservatives in redefining themselves while Ms. Merkel prepares to leave the chancellor’s office.
Although the Conservatives remain the strongest party, with the support of just under 30 per cent, the bitter dispute over their candidacy for chancellor has strained the unity in the bloc and threatened to alienate voters. The party has also suffered from an increasingly rocky response to the pandemic and a slow rollout of vaccines, as its popularity has been declining by 10 percentage points since the beginning of the year.
But the past week for the Conservatives has been dominated by the overall battle for the nomination between Mr Laschet and the leader of the smaller Bavarian Christian Social Union, Markus Söder (54).
Mr. Söder became hugely popular due to his popularity among Germans, and he wanted to take advantage of it to pull the candidate for chancellor from Mr Laschet, whose consensus-oriented style so far has not excited voters. The challenge of mr. Söder has increased a decades-old tradition of allowing the leader of the much larger Christian Democratic Union to be the standard candidate for the highest government post.
The leaders of the Christian Democratic executive council voted for Laschet by a wide margin early Tuesday morning, the party said hours after Mr. Söder made a statement in which he agreed to accept the decision of the Christian Democratic leadership while also trying. to position itself as the best candidate.
Influential leaders of the Christian Democrats were concerned about the idea of electing Mr. Söder. Others felt that Laschet’s strong political network and focus on consensus building were the characteristics needed to send the country to Merkel in the future.
In contrast, the appointment of Mrs Baerbock as the other leader of the Greens, Robert Habeck (51), was harmonious. The party positions itself to appeal not only to Germans who engage in their traditional position on environmental protection, but also to those who want a more dynamic, youthful presence in a country that has been under the rule for 16 years. led by the same Conservative chancellor.
“I want to make an offer with my candidacy for the whole society,” she said. Baerbock said in her speech, in which she asked to improve the situation for Germans in rural regions and for low-wage workers. She also stressed the importance of ensuring that Germany achieves its goals of reducing its climate change while remaining an industrial power.
A co-leader of her party since 2018, me. Baerbock, is respected for her attention to detail and preference for honest criticism and suggestions for improvement over bad praise or rising speeches. With the acceptance of the candidate on Monday, she acknowledges her lack of experience in political officials and puts it as a strong point that will help her and her party revive Germany.
“I was never a chancellor and never a minister,” she said. Baerbock said. “I strive for renewal, the others represent the status quo,” she said, adding, “I believe this country needs a fresh start.”
The Conservatives have dominated modern Germany’s political landscape and have held the chancellery for the past 30 years except for seven years, when the Social Democrats led the country, from 1998 to 2005 in coalition with the Greens as a junior partner.
Me. Baerbock, the only woman in the race, was born in 1980 and grew up outside Hanover. She now lives with her husband and their two children in the eastern state of Brandenburg, where she served as the Green state leader for four years.
“I come from a generation that is no longer young, but also not old, a generation that grew up in a united Germany and in a common Europe,” she said.
Me. Baerbock often referred to her experience as a competitive trampolineist as a form of her approach to politics, emphasizing the importance of courage and teamwork. She gained a reputation as a tough negotiator, both from talks on Germany’s plan to quit coal and the negotiations in 2017 with me. Merkel’s party over a potential three-way coalition that collapsed when the Free Democrats, Germany’s traditional free market party, withdrew. out.
Laschet’s popularity has declined both in the national scene, where he is seen as lacking in charisma, and in his homeland North Rhine-Westphalia, where more than half of the population said they were not happy with his actions. He prevailed in the race to lead the Christian Democrats with a speech on unity and confidence that raised his personal history as the son of a miner in the industrial heart of Germany, which helped him to a largely overcome faint campaign.
Christopher F. Schuetze reported.