Fierce Merkel critic resigns from conservative party

Steinbach’s move could hurt chancellor’s standing among conservative voters

Afierce internal critic of German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced yesterday she would resign from the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, accusing Merkel of having harmed the country with her migration policy.

Erika Steinbach’s move could weaken Merkel’s standing among conservative voters ahead of a September election in which the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expected to enter the federal parliament for the first time. Steinbach strongly criticised Merkel for allowing more than a million refugees into Germany in the past two years, accusing the chancellor of violating the law and not consulting other European Union members before her decision in 2015.

“All this contradicted our current legal situation and also isolated Germany in Europe because of the uncoordinated action,” Steinbach said.

The conservative lawmaker also linked her resignation to Merkel’s decision to accelerate Germany’s shift away from nuclear power and fossil fuels towards renewable sources of energy after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011.