BERLIN // German Chancellor Angela Merkel told her party on Sunday she will seek re-election next year, a move likely to be welcomed in many capitals as a sign of stability following poll triumphs for Brexit and Donald Trump.
After months of feverish speculation, Mrs Merkel said at a meeting of her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) that she would run for a fourth term as Germany's chancellor in general elections next year, party sources said.
German news agency dpa, citing sources at the Berlin headquarters of CDU, also reported that the chancellor also will run to be re-elected as the party's chairwoman when it holds its national convention next month.
Mrs Merkel is expected to declare her candidacy for chancellor at a press conference at the party's headquarters later on Sunday.
The 62-year-old chancellor has governed Europe's top economic power, which does not have term limits, since 2005.
Another full four-year mandate, which pollsters say is likely, would tie the post-war record set by her mentor Helmut Kohl, who presided over the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.
With no clear successor in the CDU, her decision also comes as a relief to her party.
Mrs Merkel represents "stability and reliability in turbulent times because she holds society together and stands up to over-simplification" by populists, CDU deputy leader Julia Kloeckner told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
"She stands for moderation and centrism instead of cheap headlines."
Repeatedly named "The World's Most Powerful Woman" by Forbes magazine, Mrs Merkel also has been suggested by some as the last powerful defender of liberal values in the West following Mr Trump's election as the next US president.
More than half of the electorate - 55 per cent - want Mrs Merkel to stay in office, up from 42 per cent in August, a poll for Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed on Sunday.
"In these difficult times, Merkel is a pillar of stability," Mr Guellner said. "People have the feeling she represents German interests well abroad," said Manfred Guellner, the head of the Forsa polling agency.
While she's never been described as a visionary or earned much praise for stirring speeches, Mrs Merkel has won respect for being tough, shrewd and doggedly tackling problems.
A pastor's daughter who grew up in communist East Germany, Mrs Merkel is popular among Germans who see her as a straight-shooter and a safe pair of hands in a crisis.
But her decision to let in more than one million asylum seekers over the last two years dented her support.
It also revived the fortunes of the rightwing populist Alternative for Germany party (AfD), which has harnessed widespread anxiety about migration.
Nevertheless, observers said the recent seismic shifts in global politics were likely to drive traditionally risk-averse German voters back into her arms.
"Society's need for predictability and stability could become so overpowering in the 2017 election year that even the creeping erosion of Merkel's chancellorship won't compromise her success at the polls in the end," left-leaning news weekly Die Zeit said.
As US president Barack Obama exits the stage, many observers say Mrs Merkel's importance as a defender of western values will only continue to grow, with some calling her the new "leader of the free world".
* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
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