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| Angela Merkel expected to announce she will stand for re-election | Angela Merkel expected to announce she will stand for re-election |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is expected to announce her bid for re-election on Sunday, in a move likely to be welcomed in many capitals as a sign of stability following unexpected poll triumphs for Brexit and Donald Trump. | |
| After months of speculation, Merkel is due to hold an evening news conference during a meeting of her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) party to say she will seek a fourth term in the 2017 elections. | |
| Merkel, 62, has governed Europe’s top economic power since 2005. | Merkel, 62, has governed Europe’s top economic power since 2005. |
| Another full four-year mandate, which pollsters say is likely, would tie the postwar record set by her mentor Helmut Kohl, who presided over the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. | Another full four-year mandate, which pollsters say is likely, would tie the postwar record set by her mentor Helmut Kohl, who presided over the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. |
| With no clear successor in her party, Merkel represents “stability and reliability in turbulent times because she holds society together and stands up to oversimplification” by populists, the CDU deputy leader, Julia Klöckner, told the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. “She stands for moderation and centrism instead of cheap headlines.” | |
| A pastor’s daughter who grew up in communist East Germany, Merkel is popular with Germans who see her as a straight-shooter and a safe pair of hands. | |
| But her decision to let in more than 1 million asylum seekers over the last two years revived the fortunes of the rightwing populist Alternative for Germany party (AfD), which has harnessed widespread anxiety about migration. | But her decision to let in more than 1 million asylum seekers over the last two years revived the fortunes of the rightwing populist Alternative for Germany party (AfD), which has harnessed widespread anxiety about migration. |
| However, observers said the recent seismic shifts in global politics could drive traditionally risk-averse German voters back into her arms. “Society’s need for predictability and stability could become so overpowering in the 2017 election year that even the creeping erosion of Merkel’s chancellorship won’t compromise her success at the polls in the end,” the left-leaning news weekly Die Zeit said. | |
| More than half of the electorate – 55% – want Merkel to stay in office, up from 42% in August, a poll for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed on Sunday. | |
| Merkel had long refused to be drawn on her plans for the general election, expected in September or October 2017, saying only that she would make the announcement “at the appropriate time”. | Merkel had long refused to be drawn on her plans for the general election, expected in September or October 2017, saying only that she would make the announcement “at the appropriate time”. |
| She repeated the line on Thursday at a bittersweet farewell news conference in Berlin with Barack Obama, who praised her as an “outstanding partner” and urged Germans to “appreciate” her. | She repeated the line on Thursday at a bittersweet farewell news conference in Berlin with Barack Obama, who praised her as an “outstanding partner” and urged Germans to “appreciate” her. |
| “It’s up to her whether she wants to stand again … but if I were here and I were German and I had a vote, I might support her,” he said with a smile. | “It’s up to her whether she wants to stand again … but if I were here and I were German and I had a vote, I might support her,” he said with a smile. |
| Misgivings about Merkel’s refugee policy were blamed for a string of state election defeats for the CDU over the last year, and sparked an open revolt by its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, which demanded a strict upper limit on incoming asylum seekers. | Misgivings about Merkel’s refugee policy were blamed for a string of state election defeats for the CDU over the last year, and sparked an open revolt by its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, which demanded a strict upper limit on incoming asylum seekers. |
| A poll on Sunday showed that Merkel’s conservatives would draw 33% of the vote if the election were held this weekend, down nine points from the last national election in 2013. | A poll on Sunday showed that Merkel’s conservatives would draw 33% of the vote if the election were held this weekend, down nine points from the last national election in 2013. |
| The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners in Merkel’s right-left ruling coalition, were a distant second with 24%. | The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners in Merkel’s right-left ruling coalition, were a distant second with 24%. |
| The AfD and the opposition Greens were neck-and-neck with 13% and 12% respectively, according to the independent opinion research institute Emnid. | The AfD and the opposition Greens were neck-and-neck with 13% and 12% respectively, according to the independent opinion research institute Emnid. |