Angela Merkel brings possible successor to Berlin

Chancellor Angela Merkel has proposed that the governor of Germany’s tiny western state of Saarland should run her party’s day-to-day operations — putting her in prime position to succeed Mrs Merkel as leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union.

Mrs Merkel said she wants the party to elect Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to the post of general-secretary next Monday. The party’s current general-secretary, Peter Tauber, is stepping down over health issues.

Speaking alongside Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer at the party’s headquarters in Berlin, Mrs Merkel said the 55-year-old would bring a lot of experience and credibility to the role at a time when the Christian Democrats are under pressure to define their political positions.

Conservative voters have abandoned the party in recent years, partly over Mrs Merkel’s welcoming stance on immigration, even though it still came first in last September’s election with almost 33% of the vote.

Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer has been governor of Saarland on Germany’s western border with France and Luxembourg since 2011. During that time she worked to make French a second language in the state and improve economic, cultural and political ties with France.

Mrs Merkel was elected general-secretary in 1998, a role that traditionally involves managing the party’s campaigns and developing its political messages. She went from general-secretary to party leader in 2000, and became Germany’s chancellor five years later.

Asked whether she considered herself Mrs Merkel’s “crown princess” now, Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer — who is often referred to by her acronym AKK in German media — said: “I was never suited for princess roles.”