Merkel sacrificed for a cause, but Germany must move on
It could be a watershed moment for Europe that is grappling with refugee fatigue and myriad other issues
It’s happening: the beginning of the end of the Angela Merkel era. On October 29, Merkel, the three-term German chancellor, announced she was stepping down from the chairmanship of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union party, and that she would not run for re-election in 2021.
The news was not a total shock: Germans have been alternately praying for, and fearing, such an announcement since the migration crisis of 2015. The question now is whether Merkel will last her full term; most likely, the grand coalition between her party and the centre-left Social Democrats will collapse before the next election.
For Germany, this may prove to be a watershed moment. Merkel’s decision could well mark a new beginning for Germany’s conservatives, who face an identity crisis after years of her pragmatic, triangulating leadership. In the best case, it could consolidate Germany’s faltering party system, in which the two establishment parties, locked in the centre, are under siege from smaller parties in the wings.
From an international perspective, however, the announcement means that Germany’s period of intense introspection, at the expense of an assertive regional and global leadership role, will continue. It could also mean that Merkel will continue to govern, but has to deal with a party leader who does not entirely support her as she faces an increasingly quarrelsome coalition.
For many in Germany, it is still hard to imagine a Merkel-less government. The first woman to occupy the German Chancellery, Merkel has been head of her party for 18 years, and has ruled the country for 13.
Her statement encapsulated what makes her such a great leader — and why she is responsible for the fractured state her party is in. To explain her decision, Merkel returned to a theme that has characterised her political career: a deeply felt sense of responsibility, and humility. She spoke of herself as a civil servant, someone who should always seek to unite the community she is serving. To that end, she said that she would serve her party and the country best by declining to run again.
What may sound like an attempt at dressing a defeat in dignity is authentic. It has always been Merkel’s greatest strength to be selfless, and humble,
It is no surprise that Merkel’s uncompromising dedication to what’s right has become a threat to Germany’s conservatives. The state elections in the past two weeks were painful.
and dedicated to a greater cause.
But in the years since the migration crisis, those same qualities became twisted, and a problem to her party and coalition partner. Merkel’s posture as a stalwart civil servant has led her at times to defy overwhelming public opinion. She increasingly conveyed the notion that she did not want to be obstructed in serving by criticism or by discussion of alternatives to her decisions.
It’s something that can happen to anyone who has sacrificed for a cause. It is no surprise that Merkel’s uncompromising dedication to what’s right has become a threat to Germany’s conservatives. The state elections in Hesse and Bavaria in the past two weeks were painful reminders of the disintegration of Germany’s postwar party system. As in the national election in September 2017, voters slammed the two establishment parties.
The centre-right’s problem goes beyond low poll numbers. Merkel has modernised the party and given up on most of its hard-held beliefs. While she opposed legalising same-sex marriage, she has pushed her party to embrace green energy, end mandatory military service and accommodate refugees. As a result, her leadership has left her party without principles. It has no answers for fundamental questions like “What is Germany’s identity in an age of globalisation?” and “What is the place of Islam within German culture?”
That lack of identity, and Merkel’s unwavering leadership, have allowed the far right to make her a main target. “Merkel muss weg!” — “Merkel has to go!” — has become the battle cry of the movement.
For years, Merkel’s pragmatism has caused subcutaneous tensions within the Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union. Those tensions are now open cracks. A few weeks ago, a rebellion by conservative members of her coalition forced out a longtime Merkel confidant as the head of the parliamentary caucus in favour of an unknown back bencher.
Almost immediately after Merkel’s statement on October 29, three candidates announced they would run for party chairman in December, each representing a different centre-right faction: Jens Spahn, the young minister of health who has positioned himself as a true conservative; Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the party’s secretary general and a pragmatic ally of Merkel; and Friedrich Merz, a conventional pro-market liberal (at this point, largely considered a long shot). The campaign among those three could be healthy for the party if it leads to a clarification of its basic values, and therefore for the country, too.
The future may be rocky in the near term, there’s hope in the political air. Merkel’s stepping aside may prove the beginning of a revival of political discourse in Germany, and a much-needed resolution about where the country is headed. She may again, though maybe for the last time, have truly served her country.