Merkel survives far-Right’s growth
GERMANY: Angela Merkel won a record-equalling fourth term in power yesterday as the far-Right returned to the German parliament for the first time since the 1960s.
For the chancellor it was a comeback victory after the fallout from her refugee policy.
But the nationalist Alternative for Germany party (AfD) was set to enter parliament with around 88 seats after a campaign in which its leading candidate called for Germans to take pride in the military achievements of the Nazis in World War II.
Merkel emerged as the only leader in a position to form a government. But she lost her previous coalition partner as the Social Democrats (SPD) suffered the worst electoral result of their his- tory, and announced they would return to opposition.
‘‘We have a mandate to form a government. And no-one can form a government against us,’’ Merkel said.
It could now take until Christmas for her to put together a new coalition with the probusiness Free Democrats (FDP) and the Green Party. Analysts said the result was a blow to Emmanuel Macron, the French president, whose call for Eurozone reforms is opposed by the FDP.
Merkel acknowledged that dramatic gains for the AfD were the ‘‘biggest challenge’’ facing her government, and vowed to win voters back from the party that campaigned on a nationalist antiimmigrant platform.
‘‘This is a great night. We did it. We are in parliament,’’ Alexander Gauland, the AfD’s chancellor candidate said. ‘‘We will change this country. We will hunt Merkel, and reclaim our country and our people.’’
Germany’s system of coalition government will limit the effect of the AfD as mainstream parties unite against it.
Initial exit polls gave the CDU 32.5 per cent of the vote together with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) – down from 41.5 per cent four years ago. The SPD were second with 20 per cent, followed by the AfD with 13.5 per cent.
Hundreds of protesters, most in their 20s, gathered outside the AfD headquarters in Berlin after initial results were announced.
‘‘We lost the election,’’ Martin Schulz, the SPD leader who was talked of as Germany’s next chancellor as recently as six months ago, told supporters. But he said he wanted to stay on as party leader and vowed to take the fight to the AfD.
‘‘We are the bulwark of democracy,’’ he said.
Schulz rounded on Merkel, blaming her for the rise of the AfD.
‘‘Mrs Merkel fought a scandalous campaign,’’ he said. ‘‘She ducked away from debate, and prevented any contrast between the democratic Left and the democratic Right.
‘‘This systematic refusal of political debate created a vacuum which the AfD was able to fill. I believe Mrs Merkel bears a great responsibility for this,’’ said Schulz, who returned from EU politics to lead the party.
The rise of the AfD and the fall in the CDU’s share of the vote were widely seen as a backlash over Merkel’s controversial 2015 decision to open Germany’s borders to asylum-seekers.
But less than a year after many had written off Merkel’s chances, a result that allows her to remain chancellor will also be seen as a comeback.
All eyes will now turn to coalition talks, and Merkel’s attempts to form a new government.
The SPD’s decision to return to opposition has limited her options, with a three-way coalition with the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens the only obvious option.
– Telegraph Group