AFP: Merkel consolidates power as Bavarian rival steps aside
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Merkel consolidates power as Bavarian rival steps aside
A longtime rival of German Chancellor Angela Merkel exited the political stage at the weekend, leaving her more powerful than ever but faced with mounting tensions in her ruling coalition. Edmund Stoiber stood down as Bavarian state premier and head of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the regional sister party of Merkel's conservatives and a member of her government, after 14 years at the helm.
Stoiber, 66, who unsuccessfully ran for election as federal chancellor in 2002 after beating Merkel for the conservatives' nomination, will now work in Brussels as head of a group charged with cutting European Union red tape.
