Merkel to step down as party leader with authority hit by losses

Bloomberg

Germany’s Angela Merkel will quit as head of her Christian Democratic party after almost two decades, a person familiar with the matter said.
She intends to stay on as chancellor and step down when her current term ends in 2021, the person said, despite a series of political setbacks that have eaten into her authority. The shock decision from the 64-year-old Merkel signals the beginning of the end of an era during which her command of Germany put its stamp on Europe and beyond for more than a decade.
Earlier on Monday, the chancellor told a leadership meeting of her Christian Democratic Union that she won’t run again as party chairwoman at a convention in December, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the meeting was closed.
The fallout from another damaging result for the CDU in a regional election on Sunday is raising questions about how long the chancellor will be able to hold on in practice. Merkel herself blamed the losses on infighting in her national government. If Merkel can install her ally Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as party chief, that may buy her enough time to leave on her own terms. If it’s an enemy like Friedrich Merz, pushed aside during Merkel’s rise to power, then she may be in trouble. For now the CDU will almost certainly support her decision as it focuses on the leadership contest and the Social Democrats, while they’ve been punished for joining Merkel’s coalition, have little incentive to trigger an election. Market reaction was muted with the euro remaining above last week’s low against the dollar.
Other contenders include Health Minister Jens Spahn, who has publicly criticized her open-doors refugee policy and is championed by the CDU’s social conservatives; Ralph Brinkhaus, a fiscal hawk who unexpectedly ousted Merkel’s longtime parliamentary caucus leader.