Berlin, Sept 7 (AFP/APP):German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday lauded her party’s candidate Armin Laschet as the best choice to succeed her, as polls showed the gaffe-prone Rhinelander still trailing badly ahead of this month’s election.
Laschet, the chancellor candidate for Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc, was long the favourite to be the next German leader, but his ratings have plummeted following a series of missteps.
The frontrunner is now Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, whose centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) are enjoying a late spurt in the final weeks before the September 26 vote.
“It is a special election, not only because no incumbent chancellor is running for re-election for the first time since 1949,” the outgoing Merkel said in what was likely her last speech in parliament ahead of the vote.
“It is also a special election because it is a decision on the direction of our country in difficult times — and it is not irrelevant who governs this country,” she said.
“The best way for our country is a CDU/CSU-led federal government with Armin Laschet as chancellor, because his government would stand for stability, reliability, moderation and centrism.
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