Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel told her conservative party Sunday that she wants to seek a fourth term in elections next year, party sources said.
After months of feverish speculation, she told leaders of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) that she was prepared to carry the party banner into the poll, expected in September or October 2017.
Merkel is to hold a news conference at her party headquarters at 1800 GMT.
The 62-year-old has governed Europe's top economic power, which does not have term limits, since 2005.
Another full four-year term, 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.
The move is likely to be welcomed in many capitals as a sign of stability following Britain's shock vote in June to leave the European Union and Donald Trump's election this month as US president.
