Merkel nominated as conservatives' candidate for German chancellor

Germany's conservative parties agreed on Monday to nominate Angela Merkel as their candidate for chancellor in a September 24 election despite their long feud over how to tackle the migrant influx.

A leaders' meeting of her center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), confirmed the foregone conclusion at a meeting in Munich.

There is "unanimous support of both parties for Merkel's candidacy," said Horst Seehofer, the leader of the CSU and premier of Bavaria.

The CDU and CSU are meeting to discuss how to defeat a resurgent Social Democratic Party (SPD) in September's federal election. Merkel and CSU leader Horst Seehofer are due to present their joint election strategy later on Monday.

Merkel's main rival in the 2017 election will be against current coalition partners the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and their candidate - former President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz.