germany's governing cdu party has chosen
amin
lashit as its new party leader party
members elected lushit in an online
convention
beating conservative friedrich moutz in
a runoff
he is now in a strong position to become
the christian conservatives candidate
in general elections held later this
year the 59 year old beat mount
and another rival norbert rivkin to the
top spot lushit
is state premier of north rhine
westphalia germany's most popular state
he is considered a moderate
and has vowed to continue chancellor
angela merkel's policy
of keeping the cbu in the political
center
russia replaces undergraduate who took
over the party leadership from merkel
in 2018
all right let's bring in our chief
political editor mikhail kufner who's
covering the convention for us mikaela
we have the results amin lush it will be
the new cdu party leader
who is he and what does he stand for
yes well he's the state premier's north
rhine west failure he
stands for continuity he stands for what
germany
is most known for in the world stability
politics
also mackerel style he is a close
ally of angela merkel he is a product
of her political structures within the
cdu party that she led
for 18 years before anakret karenbauer
took over who also was her favorite but
he didn't show
much political instinct in that office
so one favorite is taking over
from another here although mackel did
refrain a lot more
from giving active backing to aman
lashit it's an
open secret that he's the one she wanted
and he's the one
her party got so how decisive
was the vote insofar as does lushit now
have a mandate to take full control of
the party
yes he has a full mandate to shape the
program of the party
and this vote was as much about who
may be the next chancellor candidate and
take over from angela merkel for real
as it was about what conservative means
when translated into
german over those coming post-medical
years
and the message is there isn't so much
great
change there was no departure back
to more conservative routes no shift
slightly
to the right as their potentially would
have been with friedrich
who really saw a different outlook on
what conservative means
let's listen into what amin lashit said
just after his victory
[Applause]
joining us from home
i am aware of the responsibility that
this position entails
and i intend to do everything in my
power to ensure
that we get through this year together
and that together we prevail in the
state elections only weeks away
and in the national elections too
and that we ensure once again that the
new chancellor comes from our ranks
okay well our chief political editor
mikhail koffner is still with us
michaela
what do you make of this opening
statement
yes that's an interesting one a chance
that comes from our rank so he
didn't want to rule out that someone
else might become
chancellor candidate health minister yen
span who's become the
face of the german corona pandemic
response
is his teammate in his bid
to become party leader now that this has
happened we might well
see him rise to a great potential there
because ahman lashed said he doesn't
want to be ceo
he wants to be the captain of the ship
the cdu party germany's last remaining
big tent party
so no um clear claim that
his name would also have to be on that
ballot when germany goes to the
elections in september
so a lot of room for maneuver uh for
those who might want to
throw in their bid to become the next
chancellor
including potentially marco souda the
state premier of bavaria
and the leader of the csu conservative
sister party there
so with all of that in mind and general
elections very much in full view in our
future what will now be the main task of
amin lashed
well he has to reunite the party
friedrich matsu wanted a clear
shift back into a more conservative take
on what being a christian democrat
means who wanted to correct the mackerel
course he never
said it directly but he is a former
political rival of hers
there was no questions about that so he
will have to
integrate that camp that was so critical
that was
actually threatening uh really to stop
following angela mackel's lead over the
migration crisis
and that is something he needs to learn
to reintegrate he will have to find his
own way there
he can cash in on a mackerel as
political brand
when it goes towards those elections but
he will also have to navigate a course
that sees the cdu not just as a
caretaker of uh the mackel legacy
but also as a party for a new departure
into the future
i know the dust has barely settled on
this result but have there been any
immediate reactions to the result
well we've had reactions so far from
amongst those
uh who were speaking there a lot of
twitter comments but clearly um this
is what was expected uh in terms of
those who felt that the cdu would stand
for continuity
and clearly math the one who lost sent
the clear signal
well good luck guys so it doesn't sound
like he's going to be
on that team he was clearly more in it
to lead
from the front but we're still waiting
for much broader international reactions
michaela just to clarify before we go
germany has general elections in
september
to clarify armin lush it may not
necessarily
replace miracle as chancellor just to
explain that for us
well first of all who replaces mackel as
chancellor won't necessarily be from the
cdu party this is an
open vote so whoever comes top
will become the next chancellor of
germany the big question is
who will the cdu choose with the biggest
chances
to make sure that the cdu once again is
the strongest party
to deliver that chancellor and there are
some question marks
whether ahman lashed who's now in pole
position to be on that cdu ticket
will actually make it onto that mikaela
kufner chief political editor thank you
so much
you