German chancellor Angela Merkel ‘won’t seek party re-election’
Angela Merkel has told members of her ruling CDU party that she will stand aside as its elected leader in December.
Angela Merkel, one of the most stabilising influences in the European Union, has told members of her ruling CDU party that she will stand aside as its leader in December.
Following a series of embarrassing German election results, the latest being a regional whitewash in Hesse, Merkel wants to relinquish the party leadership but says she wants to continue to act as German Chancellor. Merkel has been CDU chairwoman since 2000 and there will now be a tussle within the party to succeed her.
Fresh from a second electoral upset in a fortnight, CDU voters abandoned them in preference to the Greens and the far right Alternative for Germany: reflecting ongoing dissatisfaction with Mrs Merkel’s appeasement policies over migration and political uncertainty with a wobbly coalition.
If Mrs Merkel retains the chancellorship it would not be for long and will be a way for her to quietly withdraw to allow a new personality to emerge before the 2021 general election.
But her move will create further uncertainty in the EU which continues to grapple with the migrant crisis, Brexit and a diasterous Italian economy.
The early favourite to replace Mrs Merkel is the CDU party secretary general Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
Mrs Merkel’s decision to stay on as Chancellor flies against her own views. She has previously insisted the leadership and being Chancellor went hand in hand and must be tied together.
She may be able to argue that to maintain European stability it would be best to have some sort of transition period as Chancellor but her political rivals have already sensed her weakness.
Within minutes of her announcement the former head of the CDU/CSU’s parliamentary party in the Bundestag, Friedrich Merz, indicated he would run.
Germany’s benchmark share index the DAX rallied strongly, up 1.8 per cent in early trade, although that is on the back of broad-based gains in Asian and European markets, helped by better sentiment coming from Italy over the weekend.
The euro briefly fell 0.4 per cent against the US dollar, to touch a day low of $US1.1361, on initial reports of Merkel’s decision not to seek re-election, before recovering all lost ground on reports that Merkel has asked to remain on as Chancellor. German bund yields rose one basis point to 0.36 percent.
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