Merkel To Seek Fourth Term As German Chancellor

Despite some rumors and speculation that Merkel may call it a day after being the most important woman in Europe for over a decade, having served as chancellor of Europe’s biggest economy for 11 years, on Sunday Merkel told leading members of her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) that she wants to run for a fourth term as chancellor in next year’s election, senior party sources told Reuters and German DPA agency.
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The 62-year-old conservative is widely seen as a stabilizing force in Europe “amid uncertainty after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and as a bastion of Western liberal values after the election of Donald Trump as the next U. S. president.”
On the other hand, Merkel’s CDU has seen a series of stinging political defeats in recent months in various regional German elections, as the local population takes a stance against her highly unpopular immigration policies which have resulted in over 1 million refugees arriving in Germany since 2015.
As Reuters adds, leading members of the CDU are meeting in Berlin on Sunday afternoon to prepare for the party’s last annual conference before September’s election. Merkel is due to hold a news conference at 7:00pm local time.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Nov 20, 2016.