Germany's Merkel 'to Run for 4th Term' in 2017

Angela Merkel will seek a fourth term as head of Germany's government in the 2017 elections, Der Spiegel reports.

Sources quoted by the prominent weekly suggest that Chancellor Merkel has already discussed her campaign with members of the leadership of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), but is not to announce her bid before the beginning of 2016.

She reportedly also discussed some aspects of the campaign with Horst Seehofer who heads the CDU's sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

Merkel has enjoyed popularity among Germans ever since she took up office in 2005.

A fourth term will put her on a par with Helmut Kohl, the German Chancellor who with his 16-year-long tenure (1982-1998) was the longest-serving in the country's history after Otto von Bismarck.