Merkel Reveals What She’ll Do After Her Chancellorship: Nothing

(Bloomberg) -- Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel knows what she’ll do after her 16-year-long chancellorship ends: Nothing. 

The developed world’s longest-serving elected female leader said later, down the road, she may travel -- perhaps to Africa. 

“I have decided for myself that, first of all, I will do nothing and just wait for what comes up”, Merkel said, responding to a question about her plans for the future at a event in Duesseldorf, where she shared a podium with Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Germans will vote in a general election on Sept. 26 that will deliver them a new chancellor.

“Sure, I’ll get invitations,” Merkel said. “But if I were to start making myself an agenda again, only because I’m afraid of the vacuum, the horror vaccui, I don’t want that.” 

Merkel explained that because she entered politics more than 30 years ago, she’s never been able to ask herself what else might interest her. “And because I’ve reached the age of 67, I also don’t have endless time,” she said. 

“I want to think very carefully in the now-approaching phase of my life about the question of what surfaces in me,” Merkel said. “Do I want to write, speak, hike, do I want to be at home, do I want to travel the world?”

When Adichie invited her to Nigeria, Merkel responded: “It could indeed be that I will visit African countries.”

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