(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel will remain in office for her full term, despite pressure within her party to quit after this month’s European elections, the president of the nation’s parliament said.
“Ms. Merkel is German chancellor and she is German chancellor for this legislative period,” Bundestag President Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview with Germany’s RBB radio on Saturday. A handover within the legislative period “is not easy,” nor does it correspond to German law since the constitution promotes a stable government, he said.
Merkel’s chosen successor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, has urged the chancellor to step down amid weakening support for the Christian Democrats in the May 26 vote for the European Parliament, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. In public, Kramp-Karrenbauer has insisted that Merkel should see out her term.
An opinion poll by election-research group Forschungsgruppe Wahlen earlier this month showed that 68% of those surveyed want Merkel to remain chancellor for her full term in office, until 2021, while 29% would like to see her leave earlier.
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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