Party to decide on Merkel’s 13-year rule
CDU divided over choice of next leader
HAMBURG: Angela Merkel’s long exit from politics began yesterday when her party gathered in Hamburg to decide whether to appoint her chosen successor as its new leader or break with the legacy of her 13 years in charge of Germany.
A group of powerful conservatives led by former Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble have chafed under her stewardship since 2000 and her decision to step down from the leadership of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) offers them a chance to take back control. If their candidate, BlackRock Inc’s Friedrich Merz, beats Ms Merkel acolyte Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer the chancellor’s plans for a final three years in office may be called into question.
Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer, known as AKK to the party faithful, would maintain her mentor’s strategy of looking to dominate the centre ground of German politics, even though her agenda has divided their party. Mr Merz has vowed to regain territory lost to the nationalists of Alternative for Deutschland, or AfD.
The contest is wide open as 1,001 party delegates convene for the two-day party conference. During an address at 11am local time yesterday, Ms Merkel said: “I wish that in difficult times we shouldn’t forget our Christian and democratic stance”, as she quit the party leadership. A vote on her successor as party chief will take place from 3pm local time. Whoever comes out on top will be seen as chancellor-in-waiting — a status conferred on CDU leaders since the foundation of the federal republic after World War II. The tensions within the party were evident in the conference slogan — “Bringing people together — and taking the lead together”.
Those cracks became more obvious this week when Mr Schaeuble, who himself handed over the party leadership to Ms Merkel 18 years ago, openly endorsed Mr Merz as CDU chairman. A party led by Mr Merz “would be the best thing for the country”, Mr Schaeuble, one of only two postwar CDU leaders not to become chancellor, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Tuesday.
A third candidate, 38-year-old Health Minister Jens Spahn, is seen as the outsider with little chance of victory. Peter Altmaier, Ms Merkel’s economy minister and ally, said he was “surprised and astonished” at Mr Schaeuble’s nod to Mr Merz — and returned the favour by endorsing AKK.
“Now that Wolfgang Schaeuble has burst the dam, I can say this: I am convinced that with Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer we have the best chance to unite the CDU and win elections,” Mr Altmaier told Rheinische Post newspaper on Thursday.
“I’m maintaining absolutely neutrality on the question of the personnel decision, and I think that’s absolutely right,’ she told reporters at a reception on Thursday night. “I truly wish the best for my party.”
Although Mr Merz vows that he can cooperate with Ms Merkel as chancellor, a CDU under his leadership would hearken back to the party before she emerged — a clearer tax-cutting agenda and a greater focus on security, especially when it comes to migration, as he targets voters lost to the AfD.
A Mr Merz succession would also accelerate Ms Merkel’s fading grip over domestic policy. She already lost her firm control over CDU lawmakers in September, when her parliamentary group staged a coup, unseating her caucus chairman in favor of a more independent rival.
An AKK victory by contrast would make Ms Merkel’s final years as leader easier. Ms Merkel installed the former state premier in February to end a debate about her succession. AKK has consistently out-polled Mr Merz, whose wealth and conservatism many Germans view with some suspicion.