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German Chancellor Angela Merkel listens to a question at a press conference after meeting with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis in Prague on Friday, October 26, 2018. (Petr David Josek / Associated Press)
BERLIN – Angela Merkel told her Conservative party on Monday that she planned to step down from her leadership position but would remain German Chancellor after two failed legislative elections, German media reported.
Merkel had previously indicated that she intended to seek another two-year term as leader of her Christian Democratic Union at a party congress in December, but she seemed eager to acknowledge the pressures in favor of a revival.
Merkel has been leading the CDU since 2000 and has been Chancellor of Germany since 2005.
According to the dpa news agency citing unidentified sources, Merkel said at a meeting of CDU leaders that she was ready to resign from her post but that she had been Intend to remain chancellor. The large-circulation daily Bild also announced that it would no longer represent itself at the head of the party.
Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, resigned as leader of his center-left Social Democrats in 2004 as his government struggled, but remained Chancellor. For years, Merkel insisted that the Chancellor be also the leader of the party.
Merkel currently leads Germany in a "grand coalition" of what has always been the biggest parties in the country – the CDU, her only Bavarian sister, the Christian Social Union 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 Sunday's election in the central state of Hesse, Merkel's conservative Christian Democrat Union and the center-left Social Democrats lost ground, while the Greens and the Alternative of extreme right were gaining ground. Merkel's party made a triumphant victory, barely recovering a majority for its regional government 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.
Social Democrat leader Andrea Nahles 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 autumn next.
Nahles declined to comment on Monday reports that Merkel could step down as CDU leader. The Chancellor was to hold a press conference later in the day.
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