North Rhine-Westphalia state premier Armin Laschet was elected Saturday as the new leader of Germany's ruling party, the Christian-Democrat Union (CDU). He is set to be the successor of current German chancellor Angela Merkel. In his acceptance speech, Laschet promised to continue Merkel's line. However, only a minority of Germans back Laschet as the conservative candidate to succeed Merkel in elections later this year, according to a poll.
