FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Angela Merkel and Saarland State Prime Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer one day after state elections during a party leadership meeting in Berlin, Germany, March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo
February 19, 2018
BERLIN (Reuters) – Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, premier in the tiny western state of Saarland, is to take over as secretary general of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Monday.
The move is significant as some CDU members are starting to look ahead to a post-Merkel era and thinking about potential alternatives to lead their party and country. Merkel herself was CDU secretary general before becoming chancellor.
Sometimes dubbed “mini Merkel” by German media, Kramp-Karrenbauer, 55, is a close Merkel ally and highly regarded in her party for winning an election in her region last year that helped the CDU’s national standing.
CDU sources said on Sunday that Peter Tauber was giving up the role of secretary general after a period of illness.
(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Peter Graff)
