Chancellor Angela Merkel seeks 4th term

German chancellor Angela Merkel will seek a fourth term in office in next year’s federal parliamentary elections. She faces a tough campaign unlike any other she has fought in an “increasingly polarised” country, Merkel announced in Berlin. “The decision […] after 11 years in office is anything but trivial; neither for the country, or the party, nor – and I specifically say it in this order – for me personally,” Merkel said at a press conference. 

Read a New York Times article about the announcement in English here.

Read more in the CLEW factsheet The making of "Climate Chancellor" Angela Merkel.

Find background on the run up to the federal elections in the CLEW dossier Vote2017 - German elections and the Energiewende, continuously being updated.