(Bloomberg) -- Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has signaled its broad support for party chairman Armin Laschet as the conservative bloc’s candidate to run for chancellor in September’s election.

The move Monday by the party’s leadership committee, which was confirmed by Hesse State Premier Volker Bouffier, sets up a potential clash with its smaller Bavaria sister-party, the CSU, whose chairman Markus Soeder also wants to run to replace Merkel. The CSU leadership is meeting in Munich later on Monday.

Handing the candidacy to Laschet, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, is potentially a risky move. Opinion polls suggest Soeder is significantly more popular among voters and would garner more support for the conservative bloc in the election.

The CDU and the CSU traditionally field a joint candidate and their alliance has been a bedrock in German politics since the end of World War II.

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