Merkel’s intended successor faces putsch
Angela Merkel’s party stood on the brink of revolt yesterday as her rivals raised the prospect of a coup against her intended successor.
Infighting has broken out in the upper ranks of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), with senior figures upbraiding the chancellor and her allies after a series of poor election results.
Much of the discontent is directed at Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, 57, who took over from Merkel as party leader last December but has struggled to establish her authority. Speculation is rife that she may face a mutiny at next month’s party conference.
A leadership challenge could derail Merkel’s succession plans and shift the party to the right, particularly on immigration policy.
In Sunday’s election in the eastern state of Thuringia the CDU went from first place to third, falling behind the farRight Alternative for Germany. Friedrich Merz, 63, the CDU’s former leader in the Bundestag, who lost the leadership race to Kramp-Karrenbauer, said that the result was a ‘‘huge vote of no confidence’’ in Merkel, 65, and her coalition government. He told the broadcaster ZDF: ‘‘For years the chancellor’s inertia and lack of leadership have hung over this country like a blanket of fog.’’
Merz declined to blame KrampKarrenbauer for the defeat but others on the right of the party were less sparing. At a meeting of its national board after the election Tilman Kuban, 32, head of the youth wing, bluntly challenged her leadership.
Kramp-Karrenbauer has faced criticism since becoming leader after a series of controversial remarks, including a criticism of gender-neutral toilets and a description of a bomb attack on a synagogue as an ‘‘alarm signal’’.
The question of Merkel’s succession is off-limits until next autumn but an informal leadership contest is in full swing. Insiders believe that there could be a coup if one of the warring tribes in the CDU tries to seize the upper hand. One faction is said to be working on ‘‘Operation Merz’’, a plan to install the former leader in Kramp-Karrenbauer’s place.
The CDU’s youth wing and the Werteunion, its socially conservative caucus, are pushing for the next leader to be chosen by party members rather than a few hundred functionaries. This would be likely to favour Right-wing candidates such as Merz.
‘‘The party base is crying out for motivation, change and a role in making decisions,’’ Alexander Mitsch, 52, leader of the Werteunion, told The Times.
‘‘The party must simply have the courage to stand up for its core brand again.’’
Ruprecht Polenz, 73, a former CDU general-secretary, compared KrampKarrenbauer to Helmut Kohl, who initially struggled at the top level of national politics but became Germany’s longest-serving post-war chancellor. ‘‘At the party conference in Hamburg she proved that she could prevail against two high-profile male politicians. I think she is a politician with a firm grip.’’ –