Chancellor or bust: Germany's Laschet fights for his political life

FILE PHOTO: Christian Democratic Union (CDU) candidate for chancellor Armin Laschet holds a news conference in Berlin, Germany, September 13, 2021. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - Conservative chancellor candidate Armin Laschet faced a scrap for his political future on Tuesday as lawmakers in his CDU/CSU alliance met to plot a way forward after suffering their first national election defeat since 2002.

The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) narrowly beat https://graphics.reuters.com/GERMANY-ELECTION/RESULTS/klvykgldmvg/index.html the conservatives in Sunday's election, leaving Laschet, 60, to try to form a ruling coalition with the Greens and liberal Free Democrats (FDP) or else see his political career collapse.