Angela Merkel Appears To Tap Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer As Christian Democratic Union Successor

Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, congratulated Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer after she was elected secretary general of the Christian Democratic Union in Berlin on Monday.CreditStefanie Loos/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The woman basking in the limelight, standing before an adoring crowd having won nearly 99% of the vote for a top post in the most powerful political party in Germany was not Angela Merkel. It was Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, writes The New York Times, who was elected secretary general of Germany's Christian Democratic Union. Dubbed “mini-Merkel” by the German news media, Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer assumes a post once held by the Chancellor. " In tapping Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer, she found a candidate widely seen as having the mix of liberalism and conservatism to unite a restive party base," writes The Times.

Severely weakened by a national election held five months ago, Merkel has struggled to cobble together a governing coalition. One of A.K.K.'s first challenges as general secretary will be to restore calm and discipline in a party divided between those who support Merkel's centirst course and those who want to move right.

Kramp-Karrenbauer supported Merkel's decision to open Germany's border in 2015, but took a stronger stance on handling the roughly 7,000 refugees who arrived in her small western state of Saarland, where she has been the governor. The Times writes:

"She had unaccompanied minors arriving without documents undergo medical screenings to help determine their age, and lobbied for Berlin to deport anyone whose application for asylum had been rejected. Male Muslim refugees who refused to accept food from female volunteers should go hungry, she said."

Armed with a Catholic whose husband runs their family while she is the primary breadwinner, A.K.K. opposes same-sex marriage and advertising for abortions, although both rights are considered secure in 21st century Germany.  She's considered to be an adept reader of popular sentiment and is very unassuming about being close to political power.

Moving to the German press, Der Spiegel interviews Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in an piece titled 'The Stability of Our Political System Is At Stake'.