Reports: Merkel favors German governor to run party affairs

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel is reported to favor the governor of Saarland state to run her center-right party's day-to-day operations.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has been tipped as a possible successor to Merkel as leader of the Christian Democratic Union.

German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and news agency dpa reported Monday that Merkel is proposing the 55-year-old be elected general-secretary next week. Merkel's party hasn't immediately responded to a request for comment on the reports.

The party's current general-secretary, Peter Tauber, is leaving the post after suffering health issues.

Merkel herself held the position from 1998-2000 before becoming party leader. She became Germany's chancellor in 2005.

Kramp-Karrenbauer has been governor of Saarland, a tiny state on Germany's western border with France and Luxembourg, since 2011.

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