Showdown in Berlin: conservative rivals to succeed Merkel woo lawmakers

North Rhine-Westphalia's State Premier and head of Germany's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party Armin Laschet speaks to the media as he leaves after a CDU/CSU fraction meeting in Berlin, Germany April 13, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's two rivals to succeed Angela Merkel as conservative chancellor candidate in a September election went head to head on Tuesday to win the support of lawmakers, exposing deep rifts within the parliamentary bloc.

The race between Armin Laschet, leader of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), and Markus Soeder, head of the Bavarian CSU sister party, has descended into a messy spat just two days after both vowed to make a quick and amicable decision.