German Chancellor Angela Merkel was re-elected leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) on Tuesday with strong support.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was re-elected leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) on Tuesday with strong support, displaying both her overwhelming popularity and party unity that would help her to win next year's general elections, Xinhua news agency reported.

Merkel, 58, won the support of 97.9 percent of party delegates at the party congress in Hanover.

Merkel said the current German government was "the most successful since German reunification" in 1990.

She called for stability ahead of next year's federal elections when she will compete for her third term, saying that "it is the German CDU that has the clear direction to steer our country" through stormy waters of economic crisis.

Merkel enjoys favorable chances for an election victory next September although her current junior coalition partner, the Free Democrats (FDP), is lagging behind in support.

If the FDP fails to reach the 5-percent mark next year in order to remain in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, Merkel has to consider forming coalition with the opposition the Social Democrats (SPD) or the Greens.

Merkel's domestic popularity owes much to sticking to principles in dealing with the eurozone debt crisis, including asking indebted eurozone members to carry out austerity measures and reforms.