German chancellor Angela Merkel will not seek re-election in 2021 - The Guardian

Germany
After dominating European politics for well over a decade, Angela Merkel has said her fourth term as Germany’s chancellor will be her last.

Speaking after disastrous regional elections in Hesse and Bavaria for her Christian Democrats and its Bavaria-only sister party, Merkel on Monday said she saw the results as a “clear signal that things can’t go on as they are”.

She said she would not be standing as party leader at the CDU conference in December nor seek another term as chancellor at Germany’s next federal elections, due in 2021, adding that she would withdraw completely from politics after that date.

She also stated she would also not run for chancellor if snap elections were called before 2021.

Often hailed as the world’s most powerful woman and the de facto leader of Europe, Merkel long enjoyed German voters’ support as a guarantor of the country’s stability and prosperity.

But her authority has been severely weakened since her decision to keep Germany’s borders open at the height of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015. The subsequent arrival of more than one million asylum seekers left the country deeply polarised and fuelled the rise of the far-right.

Merkel said she hoped her planned departure would end bitter fighting in her weak and fractious right-left coalition and allow it to focus on governing, declaring that “the picture the government is sending out is unacceptable”.

Voter dissatisfaction with the federal government had had a regrettable negative influence on the results in Hesse, she said.

Seeking to draw a line under a series of political crises that have rocked her fragile coalition, she added that her 13 years as chancellor had been a “daily challenge and an honour”, but that she recognised it was time to “start a new chapter”. - Read More

German chancellor Angela Merkel will not seek re-election in 2021 ...