German conservatives brood over Merkel's successor
Extraordinary congress expected in May or June
24 February, 10:47After announcing her resignation earlier this month, CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer -- widely known as "AKK" -- is to reveal her plans around midday. She will go public a day after the party suffered its second-worst result ever in a regional election, placing third in city-state Hamburg with just 11.5 percent of votes. German media reported that leaders would likely put off the key question of who should lead the party as chancellor candidate in upcoming parliamentary elections, planned at the latest for autumn 2021. Meanwhile, an extraordinary party congress in May or June should anoint a new party chairman -- unless the CDU opts for a stop-gap solution that shares power among the contenders to avoid a damaging internal dust-up. (ANSA-AFP).