BERLIN: Angela Merkel said Monday she would step down as German chancellor at the end of her term in 2021 after a series of political crises and regional vote debacles rocked her fragile coalition.
Merkel had earlier informed her centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) that she would not stand again to be the party chairman at a congress in December to make way for new leadership.
"Today it is time to begin a new chapter," she told reporters at her party headquarters.