Teh One Who Knocks
10-29-2018, 11:46 AM
By Rachel O'Donoghue - The Daily Star
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ANGELA Merkel has dramatically announced she is standing down from her role as German Chancellor.
The German leader told leaders of her Christian Democrats (CDU) Party that she will not seek re-election as Chancellor in the next General Election or as party chairwoman in December this year, sources have said.
Merkel has been CDU chairwoman since 2000 and her favoured successor is CDU party secretary-general Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
She and her party are still reeling from catastrophic election losses, with her coalition partner, the centre-left SPD party, warning it might quit the government after another hammering in a regional election.
The SPD got just 19.8% of the vote in the region of Hesse on Sunday compared to 30.7% five years ago.
Merkel's own party, the centre-right CDU party also did badly with 27.2% compared to 38.3% last time around.
She has faced intense criticisms from German voters over her migrant policy that saw over a million people flood into the country in just 12 months.
Support for the far-right AfD party has surged, with them gaining 13.2% of the vote – meaning they are now entering regional parliaments in all 16 German states.
"The message to the parties ruling in Berlin is: People want fewer disputes and more focus on the important issues," the CDU's Hesse state premier Volker Bouffier said.
"The election was a success on all fronts," the AfD's Hesse leader, Joerg Meuthen, said.
But the Greens, who also did well in Bavaria, said the regional votes had shown that the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, had been punished for trying to copy AfD rhetoric in a bid to poach far-right votes.
"People thought elections can only be won on the far right," Green party co-leader Robert Habeck said.
"Passion, optimism and pro-European politics can apparently also mobilise support," he added.
Merkel's weakness at home may limit her capacity to lead in the European Union at a time when the bloc is dealing with Brexit, a budget crisis in Italy and the prospect of populist parties making gains at European Parliament elections next May.
http://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4842/fXbFlx.jpg
ANGELA Merkel has dramatically announced she is standing down from her role as German Chancellor.
The German leader told leaders of her Christian Democrats (CDU) Party that she will not seek re-election as Chancellor in the next General Election or as party chairwoman in December this year, sources have said.
Merkel has been CDU chairwoman since 2000 and her favoured successor is CDU party secretary-general Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
She and her party are still reeling from catastrophic election losses, with her coalition partner, the centre-left SPD party, warning it might quit the government after another hammering in a regional election.
The SPD got just 19.8% of the vote in the region of Hesse on Sunday compared to 30.7% five years ago.
Merkel's own party, the centre-right CDU party also did badly with 27.2% compared to 38.3% last time around.
She has faced intense criticisms from German voters over her migrant policy that saw over a million people flood into the country in just 12 months.
Support for the far-right AfD party has surged, with them gaining 13.2% of the vote – meaning they are now entering regional parliaments in all 16 German states.
"The message to the parties ruling in Berlin is: People want fewer disputes and more focus on the important issues," the CDU's Hesse state premier Volker Bouffier said.
"The election was a success on all fronts," the AfD's Hesse leader, Joerg Meuthen, said.
But the Greens, who also did well in Bavaria, said the regional votes had shown that the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, had been punished for trying to copy AfD rhetoric in a bid to poach far-right votes.
"People thought elections can only be won on the far right," Green party co-leader Robert Habeck said.
"Passion, optimism and pro-European politics can apparently also mobilise support," he added.
Merkel's weakness at home may limit her capacity to lead in the European Union at a time when the bloc is dealing with Brexit, a budget crisis in Italy and the prospect of populist parties making gains at European Parliament elections next May.