International

The party leader of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, will not run for chancellor in next year's elections, the party said in Berlin on Monday.

Kramp-Karrenbauer surprised party leadership on Monday by announcing that she will step down from her position as the head of the party and would not run for chancellor. The jobs should be done by the same person, she is reported to have said.

She will organize the process of finding a new candidate by summertime and then step down from her leadership role, the party source said, adding that Merkel wants Kramp-Karrenbauer to remain Germany's defense minister.

The CDU will hold a press conference about the decision later on Monday.