Merkel: I would never govern with ex-communist Left party

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she would never govern with support from the Left party. That’s an option two of her would-be successors have refused to rule out ahead of the country’s national election in September. Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Merkel welcomed her current vice chancellor Olaf Scholz’s positive comments about their current governing coalition. Scholz, who is also Germany’s finance minister, is the center-left Social Democrats’ candidate to succeed Merkel in the Sept. 26 vote. He has lately tried to portray himself as her natural successor even though he belongs to a different party. The Left is partly rooted in East Germany’s ruling communist party. Critics accuse it of being too close to authoritarian countries such as Russia and Venezuela.