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POLITICS

Merkel party pick to lead Germany ‘not convincing’: Bavarian rival

Tensions simmered among Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives on Friday as the State Premier of Bavaria openly criticised the man who beat him in a bruising battle to lead the alliance into elections.

Merkel party pick to lead Germany 'not convincing': Bavarian rival
(Photo by Michael Kappeler / POOL / AFP)

Armin Laschet, the head of Merkel’s CDU, won a bitter fight this week against Markus Söder, head of the smaller Bavarian CSU, to lead the conservatives into September’s election.

The vicious competition between Laschet, who is backed by the CDU’s leadership, and Söder, who is more popular among the public, has left the conservatives bitterly divided.

In an interview on Friday, Söder said he was not impressed by the reasoning behind Laschet’s candidacy, suggesting that it was not progressive enough.

READ ALSO: Meet Armin Laschet, the king of comebacks grasping for Merkel’s throne

“I was not convinced by the rationale behind the candidacy. I stand for modernisation in the programme,” Söder told the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung.

“I think for example, that modern economic policy must reconcile both the environmental and economic imperatives,” he said, rejecting claims that he was positioning himself too close to the increasingly popular Greens.

Asked if he was the “more modern candidate” of the two, Söder said that would be a “presumptuous exaggeration”.

But he later added that his “approach is perhaps a little more progressive”, be it in the areas of environmental policy, gender equality or the high-tech agenda.

The vicious infighting within Merkel’s CDU-CSU alliance has left voters looking elsewhere.

READ ALSO: Post-Merkel: Who stands the best chance of becoming Germany’s next chancellor?

Polls earlier in the week even had the Greens overtaking the conservatives to top the surveys.

The latest INSA survey shows the conservatives back up on top but only with a one percentage point lead above the Greens at 23 percent.

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POLITICS

Federal President gives final sign-off to cannabis legalisation

The sign-off clears the final legislative hurdle for the law, paving the way for cannabis to become legal in Germany on April 1st - Easter Monday.

Federal President gives final sign-off to cannabis legalisation

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has given final sign-off to Germany’s law legalising cannabis, despite appeals from the opposition Christian Democrats not to sign the law over objections from state interior and justice ministers.

Even against these objections, the law passed the Bundesrat – German parliament’s upper chamber representing the states – on March 22nd. The Bundestag approved it already last month.

Presidential signature is the last step required to make German laws official after they’ve passed the country’s two chambers of parliament.

Although the law technically comes into effect April 1st, its implementation will be done in stages.

From April 1st, people will be able to legally possess and smoke cannabis in Germany and grow up to three plants at home. They’ll be able to have up to 25 grams on them and be in possession of 50 grams in total.

However, until July 1st, the only way to get cannabis in Germany legally will be to grow it yourself. On July 1st, cannabis clubs will open for distribution.

KEY POINTS: What to know about Germany’s partial legalisation of cannabis

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