Merkel: I won't interfere in search for next leader of my party

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that she would not interfere in the search for the next leader of her Christian Democrats (CDU) after the incumbent, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said she would step down.

"I said I won't interfere in the issue of who will lead the CDU in future or be the candidate for chancellor," Merkel told a news conference.

Last week, Kramp-Karrenbauer said she would give up the party chair as well as her ambitions of running for chancellor, as she believed one person should do both.