 Complete the following phrase:  Merkel herself also announced that she would resign as leader of the CDU at the partys conference in December 2018 and step down as Chancellor of Germany at the forthcoming election, following poor results at state elections for the CSU in Bavaria and for the CDU in Hesse. Merkels allegedly preferred candidate for the party leadership, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, narrowly defeated Friedrich Merz, who had been a rival of Merkel around 2002 and had left politics in 2009 critisising her decisions and leadership. However, Kramp-Karrenbauer struggled to unify the partys liberal and conservative factions, and in February 2020, when she failed to lead the Thuringia state CDU towards a solution of the government crisis there, she announced her intention to withdraw her interest in running as the CDU nominee for Chancellor at the election and step down as party leader. A party convention to elect a new leader was scheduled for April, but repeatedly delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 