Merkel’s power on the wane after veteran ally ousted

GERMANY - German politicians and media questioned how long Angela Merkel could carry on as chancellor yesterday after her conservatives ditched a long-standing ally as head of the parliamentary party, defying her wishes and dealing a blow to her waning authority.

The upset, before an Oct 14 election in Bavaria in which her CSU conservative allies face heavy losses, follows the third crisis in as many months for her loveless coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD). “Can Merkel Still be Chancellor?” splashed topselling Bild with a photo of the 64-old pulling a grim face.

SPD lawmaker Thomas Oppermann tweeted it was an “uprising against Merkel” and Free Democrat Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said it was “the beginning of the end of the grand coalition”.

In an unexpected vote that underscored growing discontent among conservative lawmakers after 13 years of Merkel as German chancellor, Volker Kauder, lost out to Ralph Brinkhaus in a secret ballot for the party post. However, many commentators point out that Merkel’s continued weakness will result in little change in terms of policy. Lawmakers had gone against the wishes of Merkel and CSU leader Horst Seehofer who had both called on them to re-elect Kauder, a trusty lieutenant who over 13 years helped secure the support of parliamentarians in the euro- and migrant crises. Many conservatives are still angry over Merkel’s decision three years ago to let in more than a million migrants.

“The vote shows a desire for renewal,” conservative premier of the state of Schleswig Holstein Daniel Guenther said. “There was clearly a certain discontent over national politics,” he told broadcaster NDR.

He added that Brinkhaus wanted to give more weight to lawmakers’ views in policy decisions.

Brinkhaus is not widely viewed as a rebel who wants to oust Merkel. Although he is slightly to the right of Merkel and more hawkish on financial policy, he has so far been at pains to stress he is on her side.

(Reuters)