Angela Merkel – German Chancellor decides to steps down

November 14th, 2018

Angela Merkel  Chancellor of Germany since 2005 and leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2000. Merkel has been
widely described as the de facto leader of the European Union, the most powerful woman in the world, and the leader of the Free World.

In a surprising development, she announced that she will quit as the leader if CDU and won’t run for another term as Chancellor, taking personal responsibility for the decline in support for the governing coalition.

After nearly 13 years in power, 64-year old Merkel’s authority has been strongly tested as she faced a disappointing result in last year’s federal election. It took her nearly 6 months to bring together a coalition that is suffering from infighting and suffered losses in the regional elections in Bavaria and Hesse.

Merkel said she intended to stay in power till the end of her term in 2021, but she may be forced to step down earlier depending on who wins the race to succeed her as party leader.

Many men in politics and journalists “laugher at her and called her weak” when she rose to power in the beginning. But she had a strong will and for the most part stronger nerves than her internal party critics.

Market reaction to this was muted with the euro remaining above last week’s low against the dollar.