Germany’s CSU picks right-winger Soeder as candidate for Bavaria premier

Lawmakers of Germany’s Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, have nominated right-winger Markus Soeder as their candidate for state premier in a regional election. The future of current premier Horst Seehofer - a Merkel ally - had been in question since a general election in September. Lawmakers unilaterally agreed to nominate Soeder, a fierce critic of Merkel’s refugee policy, as a candidate to run for state premier in next year’s Bavarian state election, Reuters reports. The nomination could complicate Merkel’s efforts to form a stable national government with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). Soeder welcomed a decision by Seehofer to stay on as CSU party leader, as this would help to find a way out of the political impasse in Berlin.