Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is to elect a new leader at the end of April, its current head has announced. Merkel has said she will not stand again, after nearly 15 years as chancellor.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that the CDU’s current leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, viewed as Merkel’s successor, has announced her resignation amid the political crisis in Thuringia. The CDU’s collaboration with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to install a liberal as a leader in the eastern state of Thuringia has created political chaos.

The new leader will be chosen at a special party meeting in Berlin on 25 April 25, Kramp-Karrenbauer said.