Regional party lawmakers there voted with the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) to oust the left-wing incumbent, ignoring advice from Berlin leadership. "The AfD stands against everything we as the CDU represent," Kramp-Karrenbauer told reporters Monday in Berlin. Peter Altmaier, Germany's economy minister and a close Merkel ally, said the Christian Democrats were in "an unusually serious situation." Alternative for Germany welcomed Kramp-Karrenbauer's resignation, as did Germany's former domestic intelligence chief, Hans-Georg Maassen, a vocal figure on the right of Merkel's party since his ouster in 2018. Its success has complicated Germany's political tradition of governing with multi-party coalitions, as most of its rivals have ruled out working with Alternative for Germany.

Source: CBC News February 10, 2020 14:09 UTC