Germany's CSU picks right-winger as candidate for Bavaria premier
By Jörn Poltz
MUNICH (Reuters) - Lawmakers of Germany's Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, have nominated rightwinger Markus Soeder as 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 that saw Merkel's bloc, which includes the CSU, lose ground to the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD).
CSU parliamentary group leader Thomas Kreuzer said lawmakers had unilaterally agreed to nominate Soeder, a fierce critic of Merkel's refugee policy, as candidate to run for state premier in next year's Bavarian state election.
His nomination could complicate Merkel's efforts to form a stable national government with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).
Soeder said he welcomed a decision from Seehofer to stay on as CSU party leader since this would help to find a way out of the political impasse in Berlin. Seehofer is expected to adress reporters at a news conference at 1300 GMT.
The national election in September produced a splintered parliament that made coalition building difficult. Merkel turned to the SPD after she failed to form a government with the left-leaning Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats.
Immigration policy has been a key point of contention among the conservatives who need to strike a balance between softer asylum rules demanded by the SPD and the need to show the public that the government is trying to limit the number of newcomers.
The SPD, which has governed in coalition under Merkel since 2013, suffered its worst election result in postwar history and is reluctant to join another "grand coalition".
The SPD will hold a party congress in Berlin on Dec. 7-9, where it is expected to debate its options.
The party's board is expected to recommend to its members on Monday to enter exploratory talks with Merkel's conservatives while underlining that this step would not automatically lead to a coalition government. [nL8N1O12RO]
The SPD fears it will again be smothered in a new tie-up with Merkel. It wants to show its support base that its policies are present in any coalition agreement.
The CSU meanwhile will seek to pull the coalition right-wards to preempt losses to the far-right AfD.
(Additional reporting by Michael Nienaber and Riham Alkousaa in Berlin; Writing by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Joseph Nasr and Toby Chopra)
