MOSCOW (Sputnik) — CDU Berlin won 17.6 percent of votes at the local ballot box on Sunday, its worst ever result in post-war Berlin and the second defeat for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling party in the past two weeks.
The Christian Democratic Union confirmed in a comment to RBB radio that it had received Henkel’s letter of resignation but asked him to stay until the party conference in May 2017.
He will not be vying for party nomination to the federal parliament, the Bundestag, next fall, the CDU Berlin board told the broadcaster.
Henkel’s decision came just hours after the 52-year-old ruled out stepping down in an interview with RBB late on Sunday. He admitted however that as CDU’s frontrunner in Berlin he shared responsibility for its failure.
