HAMBURG: Annegret
Kramp-Karrenbauer, the new leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian
Democrats, sought to bind the party together after a divisive leadership battle
by promoting a rival's ally to a key post yesterday. Delegates from the
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) elected Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, on Friday to
replace Merkel as party leader, a decision that moves her into pole position to
succeed Europe's most influential leader as chancellor.

Kramp-Karrenbauer,
the continuity candidate favored by the party elite, won a narrow victory over
the more conservative Friedrich Merz in a run-off. Health Minister Jens Spahn,
also a more conservative candidate, was knocked out in a first round. Yesterday,
Kramp-Karrenbauer proposed Paul Ziemiak, head of the Junge Union, the
conservatives' youth wing, to replace her as CDU secretary general - a role in
which he will organize the party, election campaigns and congresses, and
support her.

Party delegates
duly elected Ziemiak, 33, but with just 62.8 percent of the votes cast - a far
narrower margin than the overwhelming 98.9 percent support with which
Kramp-Karrenbauer was elected to the secretary general post in February. After
the bruising leadership election, Ziemiak and other leading CDU officials
sought to rally the party. "Now the task is to renew the party with a
clear course and clear communication," Ziemiak said. "Let's believe
together and let's win together!"

The tight nature
of Ziemiak's victory reflected the divisions in the CDU after a robust campaign
for the leadership. Kramp-Karrenbauer's first job as new party leader is to try
to unite the CDU ahead of European and regional elections in 2019. "Paul
Ziemiak is from the home region of Friedrich Merz. He's a close friend, from
the Junge Union, of Jens Spahn," David McAllister, a member of the CDU's
executive committee, told Reuters. "So this move to choose Paul Ziemiak is
a step forward by Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, trying to unite the different
camps which the endorsed the three different candidates," he added.

However, the move
quickly drew criticism from some. "I am not going to hide that I would
have liked a secretary general from the east," Ingo Senftleben,
Brandenburg CDU chief, told the NBR media group. He said Kramp-Karrenbauer must
fulfill her promise to pay attention to the east before three state elections
there next year.

Bridge builder

Merkel needs
Kramp-Karrenbauer to unite the CDU to help steady her ruling coalition with the
center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) - an awkward alliance that has come
close to collapse several times since being formed in March. After a series of
electoral setbacks, Kramp-Karrenbauer must use her ability to reach beyond
party lines to shore up the CDU. The party bled support to the far-right
Alternative for Germany (AfD) in last September's federal election and is also
losing support to the Greens, who are now running second in national polls
behind the Christian Democrats.

In October, the
CDU lost over 10 percentage points in a state election in Hesse. Merkel
announced she would stand down as party leader after that damaging result.
Kramp-Karrenbauer is a renowned bridge-builder - a skill set that helped win
her the party leadership, and in her home state of Saarland, where she led an
experimental three-way coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats and the
Greens.

Merkel's decision
to stand down as CDU leader is part of her slow, stage-managed exit from
politics. She wants to remain chancellor until the next federal election, due
by October 2021 and should be able to work comfortably with Kramp-Karrenbauer.
However, some commentators have suggested that with her preferred candidate in
charge of the party, Merkel may decide she could step down early and leave
Germany in her hands. - Reuters