Germany's Christian Democrats (CDU) will elect Friedrich Merz to be their new leader at a party conference Saturday, as the party recovers from its worst-ever election result.

One thousand and one delegates are set to vote in an online ballot, with only the top brass meeting at party headquarters in Berlin due to the pandemic.

Merz is the sole candidate to succeed Armin Laschet, who led the party's ill-fated 2021 election campaign. Support for Merz was cemented in a December poll of CDU members, in which he won 62.1% of the ballots.

Observers will, however, be watching to see how many delegates refuse to back Merz, a 66-year-old party veteran and corporate lawyer, who has often butted heads with the conservative party's more moderate faction.

Merz will be the CDU's third leader since 2018, when former chancellor Angela Merkel announced that she would step down from the position after 18 years. Merz ran against both of Merkel's successors as party leader, without success.

The CDU is overhauling its entire leadership after garnering just 24.1% of the vote in September's parliamentary elections.

Saturday's online vote must be confirmed by a postal vote, the results of which are to be announced on Jan. 31.