https://apnews.com/ceea5a109ba1f7c157e1
Merkel party’s crisis deepens as designated successor quits
By FRANK JORDANS
an hour ago
BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right party plunged deeper into crisis Monday following a debacle in a regional election, as the long-time German leader’s successor unexpectedly announced that she wouldn’t stand for the chancellorship.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer informed leading members of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union that she will begin the process of organizing a leadership contest in the summer. Germany is scheduled to hold its next general election in the fall of 2021 and the 65-year-old Merkel, who has led Germany for 15 years, said two years ago that she won’t run for a fifth term as chancellor.
The move throws German politics into further turmoil, days after Merkel’s party was heavily criticized for its handling of a vote for governor in the state of Thuringia that saw both the Christian Democrats and the far-right Alternative for Germany party back a centrist candidate. The vote broke what is widely regarded as a taboo around German political parties cooperating with extremist parties.