Free Republic

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has nominated Saarland State Premier Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to be the CDU's next secretary general. She will take over from Peter Tauber, who is stepping down due to health reasons.

Angela Merkel on Monday tapped the popular female premier of Germany's tiny Saarland state to take over as secretary general of her conservative party, fuelling speculation the veteran chancellor is lining up her successor. At a joint Berlin press conference, Merkel said she was "moved" that close confidante Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, 55, would take the reins from her right-hand man Peter Tauber at "a difficult time" for their Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. The surprise reshuffle comes after Tauber said at the weekend he was stepping down for health reasons, and with Merkel struggling to form a new government after a...

A poll published on Monday by the newspaper Bild put the Alternative for Germany (AfD) at 16 percent, showing that they are currently more popular than the Social Democrats (SPD). The poll, conducted by INSA, put the AfD at 16 percent, just ahead of the SPD at 15.5 percent. The poll marks the lowest support ever achieved by the SPD, traditionally one of the two major parties of German politics. According to the poll, Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats are the most popular party in the country and would secure 32 percent of the vote were elections to be held tomorrow....