Merkel’s miracle as reign is kept alive
GERMAN chancellor Angela Merkel has secured a fourth term as leader of Europe’s most powerful economy after a lengthy political impasse.
Ending months of uncertainty yesterday, Ms Merkel gained the support needed to preserve her governing coalition. The centreleft Social Democrats (SPD) voted overwhelmingly to remain in a coalition with Ms Merkel’s conservative bloc.
The resolution followed a difficult and drawn-out negotiations triggered by September’s elections, which saw the rise of a new right-wing force in German politics. Parliament is expected to meet on March 14 to re-elect Ms Merkel, 63, as chancellor.
With the coalition approved, she can now turn her attention to tackling rising anti-immigrant sentiment in Germany while pushing forward efforts to reform the stumbling EU.
‘I congratulate the SPD on this clear result and look forward to continuing to work together for the good of our country,’ she said on Twitter.
Ms Merkel’s survival drew cheers from her allies at home and abroad, with French president Emmanuel Macron declaring it ‘good news for Europe’.
Ms Merkel, who has proved herself a shrewd international negotiator during more than 12 years in office, faced her greatest challenge at home after deciding to allow over a million asylumseekers into Germany since 2015. An anti-migrant party came in third in last year’s election, upending Germany’s traditional coalition calculus.
With Ms Merkel’s bloc and the second-place SPD in government, the right-wing Alternative for Germany, or AfD, now represents the biggest opposition party in parliament, giving it a prominent platform to attack the chancellor. Its leaders have vowed to ‘hunt’ Ms Merkel.