Merkel's preferred successor says won't seek post before 2021
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's preferred successor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said Sunday that she would not seek the top job before Merkel's term ends in 2021.
The woman usually dubbed "AKK" took over from Merkel as head of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) last December, while the chancellor said she wants to serve out her 2017-2021 term.
"The chancellor and the government were elected for an entire legislative term and the citizens rightly expect them to take seriously the commitment that came with the election," said Kramp-Karrenbauer.
"So I can rule out the possibility that I will work deliberately to seek a change earlier," she told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
Rather, the CDU should work on a new policy platform and nominate its chancellor-candidate in the late autumn of 2020, she said.
German media have been speculating for months over whether Germany's veteran leader Merkel may leave earlier as head of her left-right coalition government.
Under one ...