Angela Merkel To Retire As German Chancellor And Party Leader

German Chancellor for 13 years, Angela Merkel, announced on Monday that she is going to step down as the chair of the Christian Democrats Party (CDU). She wants the party “to get ready for the time after me.” Merkel also said that she won’t seek re-election in 2021.

The 64-year-old politician has headed up CDU since 2000. And to succeed her, media reports that CDU Secretary-General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer might lead the party and start her stint in December which is when Merkel will hand over her duties to her successor. While “AKK” or “mini-Merkel,”— as people usually call her, is a strong contender, Friedrich Merz, Jens Spahn and Armin Laschet are her competitors for the position. Interestingly, Merkel herself nominated AKK to become the General Secretary last year.

Merkel, in a press conference, said she sought to pave the way for future changes and believed this was the best way forward for a responsible party chairwoman. She reminded listeners, she had always wanted to exercise her post with dignity, and likewise, leave in a dignified manner.

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AKK (56) was premier of the small state of Saarland on the French border from 2011 to 2018. While Kramp-Karrenbauer displays moderate behaviour, she stirred up the LGBTQ community in Germany in 2015 when she suggested that legalizing gay marriage could open the door to polygamy and incest, according to Handelsblatt Global. However, AKK doesn’t shy away from calling herself a feminist. “The difficulties of combining a job and a family were what led me to become politically active in the first place,” Kramp-Karrenbauer once said, Handelsblatt Global reported.

Merkel, in a press conference, said she sought to pave the way for future changes and believed this was the best way forward for a responsible party chairwoman. She reminded listeners, she had always wanted to exercise her post with dignity, and likewise, leave in a dignified manner.

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