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Armin Laschet is elected the new leader of the CDU, known as Angela Merkel's loyalist

Armin Laschet is elected the new leader of the CDU, known as Angela

Armin Laschet, 59, is the new federal chairman of Germany's center-right Christian Democrats (CDU).

He was elected with 521 votes in favor and 466 against the Conservative Friedrich Merz.

Laschet, who is also known as a loyalist of Merkel, since 2017 has been the prime minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and was considered the politician who most strongly supported Angela Merkel's course and fought for a "center CDU".

In his victory speech, Laschet vowed to do everything the party could do well in the upcoming regional elections and retain the position of Chancellor.

Armin Laschet is elected the new leader of the CDU, known as Angela

"Further, more important choices are still ahead of us," he said. He also thanked and praised the other candidates for an "honest " competition .

Since 2012 Laschet is one of the five deputy leaders of the CDU party. The Catholic from the Rin area has always been a reliable partner of the current party leader. By 2018, Angela Merkel and her successor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer could count on the party's deputy leader. When Merkel faced a political storm in Germany in 2015 over her refugee policy, Laschet remained one of the chancellor's most loyal companions and collaborators.

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