German Chancellor Angela Merkel | Sean Gallup/Getty Images Nearly two-thirds of Germans say Merkel should step down: poll Most respondents said chancellor should hand over office to whoever takes over as CDU party leader.

Nearly two-thirds of Germans believe Angela Merkel should step down as chancellor next year, according to a poll out Wednesday.

The poll, conducted by Insa institute for Bild newspaper, showed that 62.2 percent of around 4,000 respondents believe Merkel should resign at the beginning of 2019 and hand over the reins to whoever is chosen to succeed her as leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU). Another 37.8 percent said she should not step down.

Following significant losses for her conservative bloc in two recent regional elections, Merkel announced last week she would not seek another term as CDU leader, but would remain chancellor until the end of her term in 2021.

The CDU will elect her successor at a party conference in December, with candidates including Merkel’s close ally and the CDU’s Secretary General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the chancellor’s former rival Friedrich Merz, and Health Minister Jens Spahn, one of the chancellor’s loudest Cabinet critics.

At a press conference launching her bid to become CDU leader Wednesday, Kramp-Karrenbauer insisted Merkel “is the elected chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany and as long as she has the majority in the Bundestag for that, she will certainly remain that.”

Merkel has in the past repeatedly stressed the importance of holding both the office of chancellor and the leadership of the CDU, arguing that dividing the powers leads to competition and conflict, unless the two leaders work hand in glove.