- #Merkels latest challenge leading lame duck full#
- #Merkels latest challenge leading lame duck series#
He has the recent governing experience that the other two lack, but COVID-19 has not been kind to him. Armin LaschetĪrmin Laschet is considered to be Chancellor Merkel’s favorite candidate because he embodies the establishment of the party. Raging against the senior level of the party could very well prove to be counterproductive. However, he considers the recent decision to postpone the party congress as a maneuver by the establishment against him. He is publicly more nuanced now and in favor of the financial emergency measures taken at European level. In the past, he was known for the tough love, austerity-driven approach embodied by Former Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. His approach to Europe is a question mark as well. His detractors claim that under his leadership it would be harder to engage with potential new coalition partners, such as the Greens. His supporters claim that he would reabsorb voters that have left the CDU for the right wing “Alternative fuer Deutschland”, and by doing so, finally marginalize extremists. He is known for a botched attempt at reforming the tax system.Ī staunch defender of supply economics, Merz comes across as somewhat distant - respected but not loved.
Friedrich Merzįriedrich Merz is the most conservative of the three and represents those within the party who accuse Chancellor Merkel of having pushed the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) too much towards the left of the political spectrum. The choice is not trivial since it could have an impact on the composition of a future governing coalition and its European policies. The third, Armin Laschet, is the governor of North Rhine Westphalia, the most populous German state. Both Friedrich Merz and Norbert Roettgen were sidelined by her in past years, and their potential comeback tastes of revenge. Two of them have very much suffered under Chancellor Merkel’s leadership. Since Karrenbauer is in lame duck, three potential successors emerged.
#Merkels latest challenge leading lame duck series#
But she quickly lost control over the succession process, as the new party leader, Annegret Kramp Karrenbauer, engaged in a series of political missteps, and finally announced that she would relinquish her position at a new party congress to be held in December 2020. Who Are the Successors to Chancellor Merkel?Ĭhancellor Merkel had relinquished the party leadership in 2018 in order to concentrate on her legacy as chancellor. Chancellor Merkel is trying to manage multiple crises and respond to the health emergency, from Europe’s inability to a swift finalization of the recovery fund - the European Parliament is trying to change it and negotiations are currently deadlocked. Christian Democrats are slipping in the polls - although they still are still very much ahead of every other party by wide margins. Up until now, the COVID-19 emergency had boosted the government’s approval ratings, as well as those of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats. The decision has re-opened old wounds within the party and shaken its self-confidence.
#Merkels latest challenge leading lame duck full#
But the candidate for Chancellorship was delayed in a meeting full of drama on October 26, and now, it is unclear when it is going to be held. The December party congress of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic party was tasked with choosing a new party leader. The latest victim of the second coronavirus wave that is sweeping Europe is the German chancellor’s succession plan.
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