Angela Merkel takes another victory

December 15, 2018 08:38 pm | Updated 08:38 pm IST

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer waves to delegates after receiving the most votes to become the next leader of the German Christian Democrats (CDU), while she stands next to Angela Merkel at a federal congress of the CDU on December 7, 2018 in Hamburg.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer waves to delegates after receiving the most votes to become the next leader of the German Christian Democrats (CDU), while she stands next to Angela Merkel at a federal congress of the CDU on December 7, 2018 in Hamburg.

On December 6, Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) held its party meeting to elect a leader to replace Angela Merkel when she steps down. Many observers had anticipated that Friedrich Merz, a politician and lobbyist who works with BlackRock, an American investment cooperation, would become Ms. Merkel’s successor.

Mr. Merz was supported by the anti-Merkel camp within the party, especially by those who backed a radical neoliberal agenda and expressed their opposition towards Ms. Merkel’s liberal migration and refugee policies. While many of Mr. Merz’s supporters already imagined a “new, conservative revolution”, leading media outlets such as Der Spiegel also hyped the candidate. Jens Spahn, Germany’s current Health Minister, was another candidate in the race.

However, both men lost the vote. The 56-year-old Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer — media already calls her ‘AKK’ — was elected the new leader. She is set to lead the CDU into the next federal election in 2021. The most powerful woman in the world, as Ms. Merkel has been described regularly, will be replaced by a woman. Unsurprisingly, AKK was also Ms. Merkel’s favourite.

To many people, her victory was a surprise. “I don’t support the conservatives anyway, but during the last months and years, I always had the feeling that many of them were tired of Angela Merkel and her policies, especially in the wake of the refugee crisis,” said Marco Tiel, 25, a student of political science in Stuttgart.

A different path

Actually, while many parts of Europe became more conservative and right-wing, Ms. Merkel chose a different path. For that reason, even people like former MIT professor and left-wing icon Noam Chomsky honoured her “morality” and described her as some kind of “last bastion of European liberalism”. It is to be seen if AKK will continue Ms. Merkel’s policies. However, for the Chancellor, who gave an emotional speech at her party’s meeting, AKK’s victory is already a big success. A few days ago, German tabloid BILD reported that there was a “secret plan” between Ms. Merkel and AKK to hand over the chancellorship to the new leader in 2020.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a favourite of Angela Merkel, was elected the leader of the CDU, defeating anti-Merkel candidate Friedrich Merz. AKK could become the next Chancellor

According to observers, it is possible that AKK will take over the government before the election. In such a case, she could benefit from working as the Chancellor before heading into the election. Focus , a conservative magazine, described such a scenario as a “bonus” for AKK.

But the magazine added that such plans were highly dependent on the CDU’s coalition partner, the Social Democrats. In recent years, Germany’s Social Democrats have become gradually weaker. Many of their voters, largely working class voters, have shifted their support either to the far-left Die Linke or the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The CDU is also losing its traditional voters. Many conservative voters and politicians have left the party in favour of the AfD. According to Wolfgang Patzelt, a political scientist known for his conservative views, the AfD will benefit from AKK’s victory. “They will portray her as Angela Merkel 2.0 and they will hope that the policies of the CDU will not change,” he said in an interview.

Mr. Patzelt, who teaches in Dresden, eastern Germany, also pointed out that Ms. Merkel’s CDU created a vacuum in the conservative political landscape that allowed the AfD to win support. The far-right will do everything that is necessary to fully occupy this vacuum, he added.

Emran Feroz is a freelance journalist based in Stuttgart, Germany.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.