Germany's Merz re-elected as head of conservative party

Germany's governing conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), on Friday re-elected Chancellor Friedrich Merz as its chairman.

Merz was backed by a large majority of 91.17%, with 878 delegates in favour out of 963 valid votes cast at the party's national gathering in Stuttgart.

It was his second-best result. In 2022, he was elected with 94.6% of the vote at an online party conference and later confirmed by postal vote with 95.3%. In 2024, he received 89.8%.

"I would like to express my sincere thanks and say: Here's to further good cooperation in Germany's CDU," Merz said after the vote.

The two-day conference comes at the start of a busy electoral year for the CDU, with five state elections due to take place, in March and September, which likely contributed to the party rallying behind Merz.

In two eastern states, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is polling higher than the conservatives.

In his speech earlier, Merz told the gathering that the CDU must "prevent right-wing radicalism from moving back into the state chancelleries in Germany."

He vowed to seek approval for his policies "exclusively in the political centre of our country," and not from the far right, saying: "We will not allow these people from the so-called 'Alternative for Germany' to ruin our country."

Merz called on the CDU to show unity and demanded more constructive cooperation between his conservative bloc - consisting of the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union - and the Social Democrats in the governing coalition.

"We must get out of the situation where one coalition partner makes proposals that the other ritualistically rejects," he said.

Merz said he wants to "set ambitious goals" and motivate his compatriots to "achieve peak performance."

His speech received a standing ovation lasting more than 10 minutes.

The speech also drew applause from a prominent guest of honour in the front row - former CDU chancellor Angela Merkel, who attended the party conference for the first time since leaving office.

Merz had welcomed Merkel as the first of "many loyal companions."

"The architects of reunification, led of course by Helmut Kohl, came from our party, the CDU. Angela Merkel - you were chancellor for 16 years and virtually personified this unity," he said in his conference speech.

The relationship between the two politicians has long been considered strained after Merkel challenged Merz for the party leadership in 2002.