FILE: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, candidate for CDU party chief CDU general secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is among the three main contenders to succeed Germany's Angela Merkel as head of the centre-right CDU party and secure a future shot at becoming chancellor. Known as "mini-Merkel", 56-year-old Kramp-Karrenbauer -- the former premier of tiny Saarland state -- is a loyal follower of the chancellor's centrist line that has shaped the CDU and German politics over the past two decades. FILE IMAGES.