Merkel ally Seehofer staying on for "difficult" German election

Angela Merkel, German Chancellor and leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union party CDU and Horst Seehofer, federal state premier of Bavaria and chairman of the CDU's Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) address the media following their meeting to end their differences over refugee policy in Munich, southern Germany, February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Michael Dalder

MUNICH (Reuters) - Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer said on Monday he would stay on as leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) to fight what he expects to be a "very difficult" national election in September and a state poll next year.

As chairman of the CSU, the Bavarian sister party to Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), Seehofer is nominally the chancellor's ally, but he has been a thorn in her side for much of the last two years, criticising her open-door refugee policy.