Angela Merkel bids emotional farewell to Christian Democrats party

Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave an emotional farewell speech to her ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) as she stepped down as party leader on Friday and was given a standing ovation of over six minutes. Her conservative party of 1,001 representatives, among them 658 male and 343 females, was set to vote later in the day to decide on a successor to Merkel, its leader of 18 years. She decided not to rerun in October, after suffering major setbacks in two state elections earlier this year. Merkel hinted that she was supporting the party’s current General Secretary, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, to succeed her, praising her electoral performance as Chief Minister of Saarland, the BBC reported. According to a DeutschlandTrend survey, 47 per cent of CDU supporters would like Kramp-Karrenbauer to take the party lead. Popular in Saarland and Berlin, Kramp-Karrenbauer has an unpretentious style and a reputation for calm analysis as well as political acumen. (IANS)

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