Angela Merkel Reelected CDU Party Chief

At a party congress in the western German city of Düsseldorf, conservative opposition leader Angela Merkel has been reelected chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). But her victory was tinged with disappointment. Two years ago, Merkel was elected with 93.7 percent of delegates' votes. But on Monday the 50-year-old former scientist from eastern Germany only garnered 88.41 percent. The drop in support comes after a bruising few months for the CDU and its conservative sister party from Bavaria, the Christian Social Union (CSU). Internal disagreements over health care reform and personnel shake-ups cost Merkel backing from within the CDU and lost the party some support among the general public. Merkel became head of Germany's largest conservative party in 2000.