Commentary

• As of January 2021, Armin Laschet is the leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union, the same party ex-chancellor Angela Merkel led until 2018.
• The CDU is the [second largest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Democratic_Union_of_Germany#Post-Merkel_(2018%E2%80%93present) party in the Bundestag, or Parliament of Germany.
• They are a centre-right party that encompass a range of political stances.
• They won 18.9% of votes in the September 2021 general election, but with their Barvarian sister party the CSU gained a combined 24.1% of seats.
• This was their worst result ever.
• The centre-left party Social Democratic Party came first with 25.7% of the votes.
• Following these results, the two main rivals to succeed Merkel as Germany's next chancellor are the SPD's Olaf Scholz and CDU leader Armin Laschet.

Olaf Scholtz

• Olaf Scholtz has had a succession of senior posts in German politics.
• He is currently German finance minister and Chancellor Merkel's deputy.
• He previously served as an MP from 1998 to 2011.
• Prior to that, he entered politics as a Socialist Youth leader, having studied labour law.
• Whilst Laschet and the CDU's popularity fell during the leadership campaign, Scholtz and the SDP experienced the opposite and gained huge popularity.
• One of the reasons for this is his successful overseeing of the emergency funding package imposed as a result of the pandemic. He is generally seen to have performed well throughout the pandemic.
• Whilst he is a member of a left-wing party, in SPD ranks he is seen as a conservative.
• He is currently in a strong position as the SDP are in pole position to lead the next government.
• However, unlike the CDU, the SDP are in a weaker position to form a coalition.

Armin Laschet

• Armin Laschet was the premier of Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.
• He has strong international ties coming from a town bordering France, as well as forging rapport with the large Turkish community of Germany and being passionately pro-EU.
• He too is a trained lawyer, and as the son of a miner has consistently defended the coal industry.
• However, his decision not to support the notion to end coal usage by 2038 was not popular with environmental activists.
• He only narrowly secured the nomination to be the candidate for chancellor, defeating his Bavarian rival, Markus Söder, after the party leadership rallied behind him.
• However, following this, he may have the support of both the CDU and CSU.
• On the other hand, some party members blame him for the CDU/CSU's worst result in history.
• Support for both parties fell due to the pandemic, where Laschet himself was accused of inconsistencies and poor management of Covid-19.
• His reputation was further damaged when Laschet was videoed laughing as the president of Germany made a speech in a town which had been largely destroyed by catastrophic flooding.