Merkel steps in as party leader fails to quell internal crisis

ANNEGRET Kramp-karrenbauer, Angela Merkel’s chosen successor, has been left severely weakened after a rebellion within her Christian Democrat party (CDU).

Mrs Merkel was forced to intervene this week after CDU members joined forces with the nationalist Alternative for Germany to bring down a regional government in the eastern state of Thuringia.

The move was condemned as breaking a long-standing taboo of mainstream parties by co-operating with the far-right, and openly compared with the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s.

When Ms Kramp-karrenbauer – or AKK as she likes to be known – became CDU leader in 2018, it was widely seen as paving the way for her to succeed Mrs Merkel as chancellor.

But AKK has been seemingly powerless this week to stem the rebellion within her party. Instead, it was Mrs Merkel who interrupted a foreign trip to quell the crisis. She condemned what the CDU had done as “unforgivable” and demanded that it be reversed.

She even took it on herself to announce that CDU members would “not be permitted” to take part in the new government. Technically, that edict was not Mrs Merkel’s to give, as she no longer holds any party office. But no one dared question her.

It was a forceful demonstration of the enduring power of Mrs Merkel’s personal authority, and her ability to calm a crisis with a few sentences.

By doing so, she may have dealt a fatal blow to her chosen successor.