Modest
Merkel seeks reelection
Conservative
chancellor bets on her reputation as a Stabilitätsanker (anchor of
stability).
By JANOSCH
DELCKER 11/20/16, 10:24 PM CET Updated 11/20/16, 10:45 PM CET
BERLIN — Germany’s
down-to-earth Angela Merkel confirmed Sunday that she will seek a
fourth term as chancellor but dismissed “absurd” talk that she is
the last hope of the West.
Instead, the
conservative leader — described hopefully by one U.S. paper as “the
liberal West’s last defender” after Donald Trump’s election
victory — said her preoccupations were as much security and
refugees as, “What will happen to our automobile industry in 10
years? What will happen to our chemical industry? What will happen to
our engineering industry?”
It was classic
Merkel: Despite her continued popularity after 11 years in office,
the 62-year-old pastor’s daughter raised in communist East Germany
knows the electorate likes its leaders to have their feet firmly on
the ground. Referring to the hagiographic headlines, she said: “This
honors me, but I also perceive it as grotesque and almost absurd.”
If she wins another
term next autumn and completes the four-year term, Merkel will match
the 16-year record of her mentor Helmut Kohl. Formally, the ruling
Christian Democrats (CDU) first need to reelect her as party leader
in two weeks’ time — hence the phrase on Sunday: “I am willing
to run for office.” There is little doubt the CDU will endorse her.
While the
center-left Social Democrats (currently part of her ‘grand
coalition’) will struggle to put up a strong contender, the
chancellor predicted with some justification that “this election
will be difficult, like no election before — at least not since the
German reunification.”
“We will have to
deal with attacks from all sides,” Merkel told reporters.
Speaking at the
Berlin headquarters of her Christian Democrats (CDU), Merkel put next
year’s vote in the context of a European and international
“challenge to our values and our interests. [It is] an
international situation in which, carefully put, the world has to
rearrange itself after the elections in the United States and when it
comes to the relationship with Russia.”
In that environment,
the CDU will hope Merkel retains her appeal as a Stabilitätsanker
(anchor of stability), with a primary focus on what has long been
considered a core competence of the conservatives: Shoring up
Europe’s largest economy.
‘You know me’
For almost a decade,
through the global financial crisis, the eurozone debt crisis and
even her sudden decision to ditch nuclear power and accelerate the
transition to renewable energy, the chancellor was a byword for
stability. Under the simple slogan Sie kennen mich (You know me),
Merkel secured 41.5 percent of the vote in 2013, almost 16 points
ahead of the SPD.
But in September
last year she unleashed a torrent of criticism from her own
conservatives and the fringe far-right by granting refuge in Germany
to hundreds of thousands of migrants, many from Syria and other war
zones, who were stranded in Hungary.
Since then, the
conservative bloc comprising the CDU and its Bavarian sister party,
the CSU, has seen its popularity tumble to around 33 percent in
opinion polls, while the anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland
(AfD) has climbed from 4 percent to around 13 percent, as well as
winning seats in 10 German state assemblies. It looks set to win its
first seats in the Bundestag (lower house of parliament in Berlin)
next autumn.
Merkel has managed
to silence most of her internal critics by pushing through mechanisms
to speed up the deportation of rejected asylum-seekers and
emphasizing the CDU and CSU’s core Christian values. Last month,
for instance, she encouraged party cadres at a regional meeting to
sing traditional Christmas songs with their children.
By repeatedly
delaying her announcement to run for a fourth term over the past few
weeks, Merkel gave herself time to ensure broad support within the
CDU and neutralize any potential resistance
“At some point,
even her critics had no choice but to endorse her,” said one CDU
official in the Bundestag.
Authors:
Janosch Delcker
.webp)
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário