Angela Merkel's hand picked successor quits, won't run for Chancellor

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Amid Brexit and a populist rise from the far right, Germany, seen as Europe’s anchor of stability and neoliberal centrism, is now facing an uncertain political future as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “heir apparent” declared on Monday that she is quitting.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told senior Christian Democratic Union members she would step down as the governing party’s leader and not seek the chancellorship in next year’s decision.

The surprise decision upended Merkel’s plans to hand Kramp-Karrenbauer the reins of power after more than 15 years as chancellor.

“I took note of this decision with the utmost respect, but I also say that I regret it,” Merkel told reporters, thanking Kramp-Karrenbauer for her work and for agreeing to stay on until a new party leader is chosen.

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Manfred Weber, a German member of the European Union parliament who leads a center-right bloc in the EU legislature, told daily newspaper Welt that the situation in Thuringia reflected a Europe that “is in a phase of growing instability; politics is becoming more serious.”

“In general, it is a sign of growing instability among the parties of the middle all across Europe. The parties of the middle must draw their red line to those with radical right tendencies,” Weber said. “This approach from Kramp-Karrenbauer was and is correct.”

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