Berlin : German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she would leave office after September’s elections with a clear conscience, reports dpa international.
“I think I have done my bit, and anyone who hasn’t understood it now won’t understand it in the next four years,” Merkel said at an event at the Schauspielhaus theatre in Dusseldorf alongside Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Merkel also refused to be described as the “last defender of the free West.” She said, “one should refrain from all exaggerations,” before adding, “fortunately, there are quite a lot of people who feel attached to democracy, and of course I am happy about that.”
Germany is holding general elections on September 26 and Merkel is not standing for a fifth term, after steering the country through one crisis after another during her 16-year tenure.
The event featured two female journalists – Miriam Meckel and Lea Steinacker – who hosted a discussion about the “similarities between the two women in spirit.” Both Merkel and Adichie are considered icons of feminism.
Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977. She lives in Lagos and in the United States. Her greatest successes include “Purple Hibiscus,” “Half of a Yellow Sun,” and “Americanah.”
Her works have been translated into 37 languages. She has received numerous international prizes for her books and has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
