German leader Angela Merkel says she won’t run in 2021

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she won’t run again for the office in 2021, and she won’t try and influence who succeeds her.

Merkel told reporters Monday that she sees this as the opening of a new phase for her conservative Christian Democratic Union party. She says “this is a very good process that we haven’t had in 18 years.”

She confirmed reports that Health Minister Jens Spahn and CDU General Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer have announced they would vie for the party leadership job.

Spahn has been a critic of Merkel while Kramp-Karrenbauer is widely seen as relatively close to the chancellor. Merkel told reporters Monday, however, that she wouldn’t try and influence the process of who succeeds her.

Merkel said she sees “many more opportunities than risks” in her plan to hand over the leadership of her party at a December congress.

She said she ultimately bears the responsibility for her fourth-term government’s poor start and there need to be changes. She said Monday that it’s “time to start a new chapter.”

Merkel plans to remain chancellor for the rest of this parliamentary term, which ends in 2021, but said she won’t then run again and won’t seek any other political office.