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Merkel's party votes for new leader, and new era in Germany

By Paul Carrel

 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel tours Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party congress venue in Hamburg, Germany, December 6, 2018. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

 

HAMBURG (Reuters) - Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats vote on Friday to decide who replaces her as party leader and moves into pole position to succeed her as German chancellor.

 

The frontrunners are Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a Merkel protege seen as the continuity candidate, and Friedrich Merz, a Merkel rival who has questioned the constitutional guarantee of asylum to all "politically persecuted" and believes Germany, Europe's biggest economy, should contribute more to the European Union.

 

Merkel said in October she would step down as party chief but remain chancellor, an effort to manage her exit after a series of setbacks since her divisive decision in 2015 to keep German borders open to refugees fleeing war in the Middle East.

 

The new CDU leader will be chosen by 1,001 delegates who vote at a party congress in Hamburg. The winner will likely lead the CDU in the next federal election due by October 2021.

 

A survey by pollster Infratest dimap for broadcaster ARD on Thursday showed 47 percent of CDU members favoured Kramp-Karrenbauer compared with 37 percent for Merz and 12 percent for Health Minister Jens Spahn.

 

Merz, 63, who lost out to Merkel in a power struggle in 2002 and is returning to politics after a decade in business, is backed by CDU members tired of Merkel's consensual politics. He won support this week from party veteran Wolfgang Schaeuble.

 

DANGEROUS CANDIDATE

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, a Merkel ally, said: "I am convinced that with Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer we have the best chance of the CDU winning an election," adding she would be the most dangerous candidate to face the centre-left Social Democrats and the ecologist Greens.

 

Kramp-Karrenbauer's trump card is her record as former state premier in Saarland, where she led a broad coalition with the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats, alliance-building skills useful in Germany's fractured political landscape.

 

Kramp-Karrenbauer, 56, has differentiated herself from Merkel on social and foreign policy by voting in favour of quotas for women on corporate boards, opposed by Merkel, and by taking a tougher line on Russia.

 

She told Reuters last week Europe and the United States should consider blockading Russian ships over the Ukraine crisis. 

 

But on what lies ahead for the CDU, Kramp-Karrenbauer says: "I have no particular recipe."

 

By contrast, Merz takes clear positions that appeal to rank-and-file party members hungry for a more clearly defined party after 13 years under Merkel as chancellor. He wants tax cuts, a stronger EU and a more robust approach to challenging the far-right.

 

Merz will benefit from the fact that 296 of the delegates at the congress - almost a third - will be from his home state, the western region of North Rhine-Westphalia.

 

One senior CDU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said many delegates were undecided before the congress and could be swayed by how the candidates present themselves on Friday. "It could come down to the speeches on the day," he said.

 

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-07

[i claudius]

Different leader but will have the same policies.

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[pedro01]

What a messed up place Germany is.

 

Half of policy is dictated by the guilt of what happened in the war - yet they come across as being somehow morally superior because of all the bending over they do. Can't say this, can't do that....

 

They would do well to remember - there's a lot of moral superiority in not causing the death of 50 million people in the first place. Worth considering when telling everyone who didn't cause WWII what to d....

 

They need to cast off the guilt, stop throwing people in jail for having opinions, stop calling everyone right-wing and dictate policy according to what is best for their citizens.  

Edited December 7, 2018 by pedro01

[Benmart]

8 hours ago, i claudius said:

Different leader but will have the same policies.

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

My crystal ball is not working, but yours seems to be functioning.

[Benmart]

3 hours ago, pedro01 said:

What a messed up place Germany is.

 

Half of policy is dictated by the guilt of what happened in the war - yet they come across as being somehow morally superior because of all the bending over they do. Can't say this, can't do that....

 

They would do well to remember - there's a lot of moral superiority in not causing the death of 50 million people in the first place. Worth considering when telling everyone who didn't cause WWII what to d....

 

They need to cast off the guilt, stop throwing people in jail for having opinions, stop calling everyone right-wing and dictate policy according to what is best for their citizens.  

Not being German, I believe that whatever is needed, it can be decided by the German people and not by an outsider such as myself.

[welovesundaysatspace]

4 hours ago, pedro01 said:

What a messed up place Germany is.

I used to live and work Germany quite a whole. Not messed up at all. Quite the opposite. What exactly are your referring to other than your own...

4 hours ago, pedro01 said:

 

Half of policy is dictated by the guilt of what happened in the war - yet they come across as being somehow morally superior because of all the bending over they do. Can't say this, can't do that....

...nonsense

 

 

[howbri]

Lived in Germany many, many years ago while in military. It was a beautiful country with a rich history and good people. Haven't been there since but understand it's a hell-hole now with it's open borders. Good lesson for U.S. to learn.

[pedro01]

11 hours ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

I used to live and work Germany quite a whole. Not messed up at all. Quite the opposite. What exactly are your referring to other than your own...

...nonsense

 

 

 

Not nonsense.

 

Germany caused the Holocaust. They also jailed an 89 year old woman for denying it happened... https://www.thelocal.de/20180803/freedom-of-speech-doesnt-cover-holocaust-denial-germanys-top-court-rules

 

Obviously the lady is batsh*t crazy. But she's 89 - I believe a lot of 89 aren't 'all there' mentally.  Plus - what she has is an opinion - albeit a distasteful one. 

 

So you murder millions of people and in your 'guilt' - you become moral arbiter of what people can and can't say.

 

It's a joke. As I said - plenty of countries have managed to NOT murder millions of people because of their beliefs & they don't jail grandma's for silly opinions. Moral high ground? Don't think so.

[hhinhh]

New leader, clone politics. Christian Democrats missed the chance to start new politics and almost made it but 47% were not enough. Delegates must be kind of blind to continue politics that reduced the shares of votes almost by half. Germany deserves better leaders.

[welovesundaysatspace]

 

9 hours ago, pedro01 said:

Plus - what she has is an opinion - albeit a distasteful one. 

A lie is not an opinion. What Trumpian nonsense.

 

9 hours ago, pedro01 said:

So you murder millions of people and in your 'guilt' - you become moral arbiter of what people can and can't say.

“you”? If I’m not wrong, that was Hitler and the Nazis, most of whom are dead, fortunately. 

 

9 hours ago, pedro01 said:

 

It's a joke. As I said - plenty of countries have managed to NOT murder millions of people because of their beliefs & they don't jail grandma's for silly opinions. Moral high ground? Don't think so.

So you’re saying a better way to deal with the killings of the Nazis is to make denying it legal? Whatever your opinion, I’m glad Germany is handling it differently. 

[pedro01]

59 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

 

A lie is not an opinion. What Trumpian nonsense.

 

“you”? If I’m not wrong, that was Hitler and the Nazis, most of whom are dead, fortunately. 

 

So you’re saying a better way to deal with the killings of the Nazis is to make denying it legal? Whatever your opinion, I’m glad Germany is handling it differently. 

Opinion - "a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge." - look it up.

 

But the world is obviously a safer place with Germans jailing 89 year olds for voicing distasteful opinions.

 

As it is - the CDU have voted for more of the same, despite the fact that Merkel's policies have the party in decline. 

 

The worrying part, of course is their "fight against the far-right". Obviously that's the whole "national guilt" theme being played skilfully - until you realize that they get to define "far right" themselves. One day you might be going to jail for being "proud to be German". Remember Merkel grabbing the German flag off a fellow politician and throwing it away?

 

 

The correct way to fight the far-right or even center-right is by presenting a better alternative - they don't have one - so, I fear more "crimes of thought" in Germany's future and possibly the EU too if the CDU remain in power.

Edited December 8, 2018 by pedro01

[wabothai]

14 hours ago, howbri said:

Lived in Germany many, many years ago while in military. It was a beautiful country with a rich history and good people. Haven't been there since but understand it's a hell-hole now with it's open borders. Good lesson for U.S. to learn.

Your understanding is quite wrong.