Germany’s Merkel vows to quit in 2021 after poll disasters
ANGELA Merkel yesterday revealed she will quit as German chancellor in 2021, following a series of election woes.
Mrs Merkel, 64, said she took “full responsibility” for the setbacks, which saw her Christian Democrats (CDU) party severely weakened in elections held in the state of Hesse on Sunday.
She made it clear she would not fight to remain as the country’s leader for a fifth term, when her tenure ended.
And it is understood she has ruled out seeking a senior position in the EU following a European Parliament election next year, according to CDU members.
Mrs Merkel, who has been chancellor since 2005, said: “I will not be seeking any political post after my term ends.”
The centre-right CDU and its coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SDP), clung to power at the weekend, but the polls saw their share of the vote plummet by 10 per cent.
Mrs Merkel also revealed she had no plans to seek re-election as CDU leader in December – a position she has held since 2000.
Her sister party, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) had a poll disaster only a few weeks ago, suffering major losses in a state parliament vote.
Refused
National support has been growing for parties including the Greens and Alternative for Germany (AfD) since the 2017 general election, at the expense of major centre parties, because of Mrs Merkel’s handling of the migrant crisis.
She refused to back any of the candidates who will be looking to replace her as CDU party leader at a convention in December.
Following a closed-door meeting yesterday, Mrs Merkel revealed: “It’s true that [CDU secretary general] Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and [health minister] Jens Spahn both announced their candidacy today.”
But she made it clear she did not wish to influence the election of her successor and said Brexit and US-Russia tensions would remain the two major issues while she was in power.
Friedrich Merz, a former parliamentary leader of the CDU/CSU alliance, is also vying for leadership of the CDU, according to conservative politicians.
He held the alliance chairmanship from 2000 until 2002, when he stepped down in favour of Mrs Merkel.
Mr Merz is also a member of the European Parliament and is chairman of financial giant BlackRock Germany.
Mrs Merkel said she was quitting to allow the CDU to prepare for future success, but the immediate impact of her announcement caused the euro to fall briefly. German government bond yields rose, however.
SDP leader Andrea Naples, whose party’s support has fallen to its lowest level since 1946, has threatened to pull the plug on propping up Mrs Merkel’s conservatives unless there was a policy change.
Mrs Merkel refused to be drawn on whether her decision not to run for another term of office would lead to a snap general election before 2021.
German newspaper Spiegel Online had suggested Mrs Merkel was planning to run for the alliance’s chairmanship in December, but said she had a change of heart in the wake of the party’s poor result in the Hesse elections.
The paper said: “CDU leader Angela Merkel will not stand again for the chairmanship of her party.
“This she announced after Spiegel information in the presidium meeting on Monday morning.
“According to her original plans, she wanted to compete again at the party congress in Hamburg in December.”
But Mrs Merkel maintains that she made her decision not to run again before the German parliament’s summer recess.
Commenting on Mrs Merkel’s announcement, Brexiteer and top Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “When people retire or resign, one should remember them for the extraordinary contribution they have made to their country.
Patriotic
“She is a patriotic German lady, who has held fast to her political beliefs for a very extended period in the highest office.
“One should draw a curtain over the day-to-day political disputes.
“And what we were talking about – polite political debate – if this is right, is a day to say kindly things about her.”
When he was asked what could be said tomorrow about Mrs Merkel, Mr Rees-Mogg declared: “Tomorrow, we can consider what the effect will have on the Brexit negotiations and more earthy matters.”