The party leader of Germany’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, has announced she has decided not to run for the position of chancellor to succeed the current out-going Chancellor Angela Merkel her party said in Berlin on Monday.

In a surprise to the party leadership Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced she will step down from her position as the head of the party and would not run for chancellor. The jobs should be done by the same person, she is reported to have said.

She will organize the process of finding a new candidate by the summer and later leave her leadership role; it is believed however that the current Chancellor Angela Merkel wants Kramp-Karrenbauer to remain Germany’s defense minister.

The CDU will hold a press conference about the decision later today.