Angela Merkel has announced that she will not seek reelection as CDU party chairman in December, although she wants to remain chancellor until 2021.
>German Chancellor Angela Merkel has confirmed she will not run for re-election as its chairwoman in December.
>Her decision comes after her party suffered heavy losses in regional elections that threatened the stability of the governing coalition.
>However, she said that she would like to remain in the post of Germany's chancellor until 2021, local media report.
The exit poll results in the Hesse Election:
>Christian Democratic Union (CDU) - 27.9% (down from 38.3%)
>Social Democratic Party (SPD) - 19.9% (down from 30.7%)
>Green Party - 19.5% (up from 11.1%)
>Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) - 12% (up from not breaking the 5% required to gain seats)
>Free Democrats (FDP) - 7.5% (up from 5%)
Merkel's CDU has suffered the worst performance in Hesse since 1949, and her coalition partner, the SPD, has taken an equal beating.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46016377
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46012098
The AfD had this to say after the elections in Hesse
>AfD politician Alexander Gauland told a crowd of supporters, “Dear friends, now that we’re obviously the third biggest power … the government has to buckle up. We will hunt them. We will hunt Ms Merkel … and we will reclaim our country and our people.”
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2017/09/25/merkel-scores-pyrrhic-victory-populists-beat-expectations/