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Angela Merkel told her conservative party on Monday that she was ready to step down from her leadership position but remained German Chancellor after a double electoral stalemate in the election of a state, media reports said German.
Merkel, 64, had announced her intention to run for another two-year term as head of her Christian Democratic Union at a party convention in December, but she seemed eager to recognize the pressure in for a revival as his government, elected for the fourth time, struggled to gain ground.
Merkel currently leads Germany in a "grand coalition" of the country's largest parties – the CDU, the CSU of Bavaria and the Social Democrats. His government, which had sat for the fourth time, only took office in March, but he is well known for his quarrels.
In an election Sunday in the central state of Hesse, the CDU and the Social Democrats lost a lot of ground, while the Greens and the Far Right Alternative recorded gains . Merkel's party had a triumphant victory, barely saving the majority of its governing coalition with the Greens.
The debacle came after violence in a national election in Bavaria two weeks ago between the CSU and the Social Democrats.
A national election is expected in 2021, but the disappointing results for the coalition partners and a resignation of the party leader by Merkel would probably hasten them.
Merkel told the party that this would be his last term as Chancellor, the DPA news agency reported, citing unidentified sources of the party.
It had been widely accepted that this would be Merkel's last term as chancellor, but before the reported statements, she had not confirmed it herself.
Party leader for 18 years
Andrea Nahles, leader of the Social Democrats, on Sunday called for a "clear and binding timetable" for the implementation of government projects before the coalition faces an agreed mid-term review in the autumn next.
Merkel has been running the CDU since 2000 and has been Chancellor of Germany since 2005. There is no obvious successor, but several potential contenders.
According to the dpa news agency citing unidentified sources, Merkel said at a meeting of CDU leaders that she was ready to step down from her party leader position but had not been identified. intend to remain chancellor. The mainstream newspaper Bild also announced that she would no longer represent herself as party leader.
It is a major concession for Merkel, who has been insisting for years that the Chancellor is also the leader of the party. But there is a precedent for splitting both jobs.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Secretary General of the CDU, is seen on October 21 in Berlin during the election campaign. She should be one of the candidates for the leadership of the party. (Omer Messinger / EPA-EFE)
Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, resigned from his position as leader of the center-left Social Democrats in 2004 as his government struggled, but remained chancellor until it lost little elections 18 months later. Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982, never led the Social Democrats.
"The CDU is at a turning point," Welt television Mike Mohring, head of the East Germany regional party, told Welt. "I've said in recent days that Angela Merkel knew best what to do, and now she's decided, and that requires respect."
He said it was important to avoid "long staff debates" and restore citizens' trust in the CDU as a ruling party.
Merkel brought the CDU to the political center during her years as a leader, abandoning military conscription, introducing incentives to fathers to take care of their young children and suddenly speeding up the shutdown of German nuclear power plants after the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
She authorized a large number of asylum seekers in 2015, stating "we will handle this", before gradually moving to a more restrictive approach. This decision has resulted in lasting tensions within its conservative bloc, the Union, particularly with the sister party of the CDU, the only Bavarian, the Christian Social Union.
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