Germany’s Merkel will run again for chancellor

“The decision for a fourth term, after 11 years in office, is anything but trivial for the country, the party – and I say it consciously in this order – for me personally”, she told reporters, striking a serious, nearly somber tone.

Speaking after meeting officials from her centre-right CDU party, she said: “I literally thought about this decision endlessly. but I am ready to run for office again”.

Another stint for Merkel would be significant because a large part of the German electorate is looking for stability in uncertain times after the Brexit vote in Britain, the election of Donald Trump in the United States and the rise of populist movements in several European countries.

At her news conference, Merkel rejected the notion that with U.S. President Barack Obama nearing the end of his second term, she assumes the primary role as a defender of liberal democracy in the West, saying it was “absurd” to think such a role could fall to any one person.

The push from Brussels, where Germany has tried to foist its fiscal discipline on other European Union members, signals the limits of Merkel’s capacity to lead in Europe, where her open-door migrant policy has proved especially unpopular with eastern neighbours.

The veteran chancellor announced Sunday she would run again in next year’s polls and seek to govern Europe’s top economy for a total of 16 years, which would equal the marathon term of her conservative mentor, Helmut Kohl.

Misgivings about Merkel’s refugee policy were blamed for a string of state election defeats for the CDU over the a year ago, and sparked an open revolt by its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, which demanded a strict upper limit on incoming asylum seekers.

Merkel also noted she understood it was her task to listen and accept the expectations of the citizens and to implement them in the interest of the public.

The result is that she’ll be running in what are “exceptionally hard and, one can also say uncertain times”.

A recent poll suggested up to 59% of Germans are in favour of her being re-elected, while just 39% want to see someone else in charge.

A physicist by training, Ms Merkel became chancellor in 2005.

She’s also a passionate supporter of the European project and was horrified by Britain’s decision to leave.

On Friday, Ms. Merkel received the leaders of the U.S., France, Italy, Spain and the U.K.to discuss global crises in the post-Trump world.

“My goal in politics is to work to keep our country together, to make sure we can talk to one another”.

The CDU’s grand coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), has not yet put forward a candidate for the chancellorship. As it stands, though, it does appear that Merkel’s immigration policies at least have generally strong political support even among the major opposition parties.

Amid such a shift to the new more extreme right in the Western world, some commentators have dubbed Merkel ironically as the “anti-Trump”.

NELSON: She says even readers of her left-leaning daily, Die Tageszeitung, have been sending emails and posting comments saying they can’t believe they’re happy to be living in a country ruled by a conservative like Angela Merkel.