DHAKA: A majority of Germans want Angela Merkel to run for a fourth term as Chancellor and nearly three in four believe she would like to remain in office beyond 2017, when her current term ends.

A new poll shows, reports The Straits Times.

Last year some leading German commentators speculated that Merkel, 60, might step down in the middle of her third term to give a successor time to consolidate his or her position before the next federal vote.

But one year into her third term, Merkel is enjoying popularity levels that other leaders can only dream of, while the leading candidate to succeed her as leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), Ursula von der Leyen, has made a mixed start as defence minister.

The survey was conducted days before Merkel is expected to be feted at the CDU’s annual congress in Cologne.

BDST: 1943 HRS, DEC 07, 2014