The question of who will succeed Angela Merkel as Germany’s chancellor was left hanging in the balance after her anointed successor signalled that she could step down.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has been leader of Germany’s largest party, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), since Ms Merkel quit as its leader in 2018 to focus on her continuing role as the country’s chancellor.
Speaking on Friday at the CDU annual conference in the eastern city of Leipzig, Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer admitted her party had had a “difficult year”, in reference to a sustained drop in opinion-poll support.
The CDU leader, a close ally of Ms Merkel, would likely become chancellor if she leads her party into the next election – but on Friday she offered to quit.
Taking an indirect dig at potential rivals for the CDU leadership, such as staunch economic liberal Friedrich Merz, Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer said that attacking the legacy of her party’s own government was “not a good campaigning strategy”.
Ms Merkel has said emphatically that she will not run for re-election when her term as chancellor ends in 2021, but despite the anointing of Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer as a successor, the party’s centrist and right-wing factions are still fighting for control over its future direction.
