In Germany, Armin Laschet was elected as the leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, the Christian Democratic Union Party.
At the 33rd General Assembly organized by CDU in digital environment due to the new type of coronavirus (Kovid-19) epidemic, North-Rhine Westphalia State Prime Minister Armin Laschet, former Deputy Friedrich Merz and Federal Parliament Foreign Affairs Commission President Norbert Röttgen competed for the chairmanship.
In the first round of the elections, Merz got 385 of 992 valid games. Delegates voted 380 for Laschet and 224 for Röttgen. 3 delegates abstained. Since none of the candidates could win more than half the number of delegates, the second round of the elections was started.
In the second round, where the top two candidates competed in the first round, Laschet was elected the new chairman of the CDU by taking 521 of the 991 valid games, while Merz got 466 votes. 4 delegates abstained.
Thus, Armin Laschet became the 9th chairman of the CDU. Delegates must confirm this election by letter in order to legally register the elections held in digital environment.
Who is Armin Laschet?
Born in 1961 in Aachen, Germany's North-Rhine Westphalia state, Armin Laschet studied law at Munich and Bonn universities in 1981-1987 and journalism in 1987-1988.
Laschet worked as a freelance journalist in Bavaria until 1994, at the same time advising then Bundestag President Rita Süssmuth, serving as a member of the Bundestag in 1994-1998 and in the European Parliament in 1999-2005.
Laschet took over the Ministry of Family, Women and Integration in North Rhine-Westphalia 2005-2010. Laschet, who established close relations with the Turks living in the state within the scope of this duty, contributed to the Turkish-German friendship.
The father of three, Laschet became Prime Minister of Germany's most densely populated state of North-Rhine Westphalia in 2017, with a population of around 18 million.