But she has found herself dragged into the frantic campaign schedule of the unpopular chairman of her party, Laschet. In the last week of the campaign, Merkel took Laschet to her constituency by the Baltic coast and on Friday headlined the closing rally gathering the conservatives' bigwigs in Munich. "To keep Germany stable, Armin Laschet must become chancellor, and the CDU and CSU must be the strongest force," she said. Laschet had gone into the race for the chancellery badly bruised by a tough battle for the conservatives' chancellor candidate nomination. Nevertheless, his party had enjoyed a substantial lead ahead of the SPD heading into the summer.

Source: Bangkok Post September 25, 2021 02:15 UTC