German politician serving as Minister of Defence and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union since the 2018 leadership election, succeeding Angela Merkel, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is hanging by the thread as members of her own party are debating whether she should succeed Merkel as German Chancellor. Annegret's path to succeed Angela Merkel as Germany’s chancellor seemed clear when she replaced her as leader of the governing Christian Democrats (CDU) last December. The situation arose as a number of public gaffes, including poking fun at trans-gender people in a light-hearted carnival speech slumped her ratings. This was one of the reasons that led to CDU's loss in an election to the European Parliament in May and has had mixed success in regional elections.

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CDU leaders take on Annegret

On the other hand, senior CDU leaders told the media that Annegret still has time to prove herself. The Union has only one year left to agree on a candidate as Merkel completes her term in 2021. Yet the growing uncertainty made a senior chancellor tell a news agency that the question is still unsettled. The stake is high as a messy transition of power would risk destabilizing Germany after a decade of economic expansion under Merkel. The leader has been the EU’s most influential head of government, helping guide the bloc through multiple crises. This would also have a direct effect on EU as Germany is its most important source of funding. 

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Kramp-Karrenbauer draws flak

Although Kramp-Karrenbauer is still in pole position to become the CDU candidate, the CDU’s youth wing and a sister party which is part of Merkel’s coalition government have expressed their reservations about her and now say they want a ballot of members on who should be the conservative bloc’s next candidate as chancellor. The Union could discuss whether to hold such at its annual congress next month. The 57-year-old's supporters also said the media that she is suffering a loss of confidence after a baptism of fire as a party chair. Apart from her derogatory comment on the third gender, she was also ridiculed in February for addressing a high-profile CDU meeting as Social Democrats. The politician reportedly drew more flak after she called for rules about expressing online opinions before elections in response to a YouTube video critical of the CDU. Opinion polls cited that Kramp-Karrenbauer had only half as much support as last December and that only 29% of German voters now and another poll cited about 63% of voters felt she was unsuited for the job of chancellor.

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