Angela Merkel to run for 4th term as Chancellor, politician says

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will run for a fourth term in elections next year, a senior politician in her party told CNN on Tuesday.

"She will run for Chancellor," Norbert Roettgen of the Christian Democratic Union said on CNN's "Amanpour."

"She is absolutely determined, willing, and ready to contribute to strengthen the international liberal order. But we can't see the Chancellor or Germany as last man standing."

Germans have been waiting for months for clarity on whether Merkel will pursue a fourth term in next year's elections.

Another stint would be significant because a large part of the German electorate is looking for stability in uncertain times after the Brexit vote in Britain, the election of Donald Trump in the United States and the rise of populist movements in several European countries.

If she pursues the position, she'll be the favourite to win, political experts say, even though she is facing some backlash over Germany's refugee policies and the acceptance of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Syria, Afghanistan and other nations.

Christian Democratic Union spokesman Jochen Blind said Merkel "will announce her decision in due time."

Merkel, 62, is the daughter of a Protestant minister and was brought up in communist East Germany.

She entered Germany's parliament in the first post-unification election, serving in ministerial posts and as the leader of the opposition before she was finally elected Chancellor in 2005. She became the country's first female leader

She was re-elected Chancellor in 2009 and 2013.

Merkel has been a leading figure in the fight against the region's financial crisis. She has blocked bailouts, rejected proposals, denied pleas and stood up to the rest of Europe.

While citizens in France, Spain, Italy and Greece voted out her counterparts, Merkel has been re-elected with one of the strongest mandates in the history of modern Germany.