Merkel Up for Third Mandate in 2013
German Chancellor Angela Merkel intends to run for a third mandate in the 2013 elections, she said on television on Saturday.
"I have high hopes that the Social Democrats will find me an adversary before the next election," the 56-year-old Christian Democrat leader, who has been in her job since 2005 and was re-elected in October 2009, told the SAT1 television channel.
Merkel said she was not concerned that opinion polls placed her behind potential Social Democrat candidates.
"When campaigning comes round, I will put myself into it with enthusiasm," she said.
Two polls last month found German elites were disappointed with Merkel and the performance of her center-right government.
On Friday, Merkel defended her government's silence on a reported secret deal to sell hundreds of tanks to Saudi Arabia, and said she was committed to democracy in the region.
"Deliberation and decisions by the federal security council are secret for good reason," she told the daily Mittelbayerische Zeitung, referring to the panel including the chancellor and top ministers that rules on arms exports.
Saudi Arabia is reportedly about to buy 200 Leopard-2s, Germany's main battle tank which is also produced under license in Spain, for a multi-billion-euro sum.
Source: Agence France Presse
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