Here, now and today," Kramp-Karrenbauer told delegates, responding to criticism of her leadership. Widely known by her initials "AKK", the 57-year-old has endured a rocky first year at the helm since taking over the party leadership from Chancellor Angela Merkel at last year's conference. Here, now and today," she told the party at the opening of their annual congress. "We are loyal to our party chairs and our party leadership, and to the government that we have carried for 50 years, and those were good years for Germany," he told the congress. Traditionally a question that the CDU leadership decides behind closed doors with its Bavarian sister party CSU, there are now growing calls to involve the party base in the candidate selection process.

Source: The Local November 22, 2019 14:12 UTC