Angela Merkel announced a political farewell

Angela Merkel [64] will not go for a new term as chairman of the CDU. She announced that on Monday. Furthermore, this will also be her last term as Chancellor, she said. The current mandate expires in 2021.

The CDU will hold presidential elections on 8 December. Current party chairman Angela Merkel will not be on the list that day. She announced that on Monday. It has been suspected for some time that Merkel would not stand for election.

The secretary-general of the CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, wants to succeed Merkel as chairman of the party. Kramp-Karrenbauer was Prime Minister of the Land Saarland until February. Merkel had presented her in February as the new Secretary-General, which is unusual for a successful Prime Minister in Germany.

The Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn also announced his candidacy, according to the German news agency DPA. He had profiled himself in the past as a critic of Merkel and representative of the very conservative wing within CDU. After the parliamentary elections in 2017, Merkel had won him in her cabinet as minister.

Heavy defeat

The announcement comes after a heavy election defeat of the CDU in the state of Hessen on Sunday. The sister party CSU had to surrender quite a few weeks ago in Bavaria. The Greens and the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) were the big winners.

Since the refugee crisis of 2015, CDU, CSU and government partner SPD are in a downward spiral, where the Greens and AfD in particular are reaping the benefits.

End of the political career

Merkel has led the CDU since 2000. Since November 2005 she is Chancellor. She has always maintained that the party presidency and the function of the chancellor are inextricably linked. Later in the day she announced that she would therefore complete her current tenure as Chancellor, which will continue until 2021, but will not again stand for election.

She also has no appetite for a European political position in Brussels. This marks the end of the ‘Merkel political era’.

Merkel began her fourth four-year term in March. 55 percent of Germans believe, however, that they will not serve the entire trip.

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