German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday said she respected, but also regretted the decision by her heir apparent to resign as leader of the Christian Democrats and as candidate for the chancellorship. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer's unexpectedly threw in the towel, plunging the conservative party into an even deeper crisis as it struggles to agree on its future political direction after losing votes to the far right.
Kramp-Karrenbauer decision not to seek the chancellorship in next year's general election upends Merkel's plans to hand her the reins after more than 15 years in power.
The announcement followed days of in-fighting within the CDU party over its handling last week of the election of a governor in the state of Thuringia.
Regional party lawmakers there voted with the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, to oust the left-wing incumbent, defying appeals from Kramp-Karrenbauer and further undermining her leadership.
The vote in Thuringia broke what is widely regarded as a taboo in post-war German politics around cooperating with extremist parties.
Addressing reporters in Berlin, Kramp-Karrenbauer said the AfD stood "against everything we as the CDU represent", adding that "any convergence with AfD weakens the CDU".
Germany's next general election is scheduled for the autumn of 2021.
But any shift to the right in Merkel's party could trigger a breakup of her federal coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats and increase the chances of an early national election.
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