Squeezed by far right, Merkel now faces a rising left

She is considered the indispensable European, yet one of the biggest questions looming over the continent’s crucial elections this year is whether Germany still regards Angela Merkel as indispensable, too.

Seven months before national elections in Germany, the prevailing wisdom has held that Merkel, now seeking a fourth four-year term as chancellor, is most vulnerable to the rising popularity of the country’s far right, just as other populist, far-right parties are gaining in upcoming elections in the Netherlands and France.
Yet suddenly, Germany’s left has unexpectedly resurged, prompting Der Spiegel magazine this weekend to pose a question on its cover: “Will She Fall?”
A reliable answer is not in sight. The shocks of 2016 — Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States — have profoundly shaken Germany, which depends more than any other European nation on Pax Americana and global institutions set up after the Second World War.
But on Sunday, the rebound of the left — along with the broad German distaste for Trump that has helped fuel it — was on full display. The popular centre-left Social Democrat Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has served in Merkel’s coalition government as foreign minister for seven years, won the presidency with 931 votes in the 1,260-member assembly that elects the president to a five-year term.
Despite being a largely ceremonial position, the presidency provides stature and an important platform for Steinmeier, a popular and charismatic politician. In his brief acceptance speech, he encouraged Germans to be bold in difficult times.
“If we want to give others courage, then we must have some ourselves,” he said on a day when many other speakers evoked the country’s dark past and its emergence as a democracy after the Nazis’ defeat in the Second World War.
One marvel of travelling the world, he said, was to realise that Germany has become a model. “Isn’t it wonderful that this, our difficult fatherland, is seen as an anchor of hope for many people in the world?” Steinmeier said.
Before the vote, the conservative head of parliament, Norbert Lammert, gave a surprisingly fiery speech that — without mentioning names — attacked Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia for trying to divide or weaken Europe.
“Whoever champions a closed mind instead of openness to the world, whoever literally walls themselves in, bets on protectionism instead of free trade and preaches isolationism instead of states cooperating, and declares ‘We first’ as a programme, should not be surprised if others do the same — with all the fatal side effects for international ties which we know from the 20th century,” Lammert said. That goes, he added, for individual European states “but also for our great partner country across the Atlantic.”
Once, it would have been rare for German politicians to lecture other democracies on values, especially the United States, but Germany is now regarded as a critical pillar in upholding the liberal western order, which is one reason the September 24 national elections are being watched so closely.
It is also why some of Merkel’s fellow conservatives quietly grumbled that she was outfoxed when she agreed to put Steinmeier forward as the presidential candidate of her grand coalition government, which unites her conservative bloc with the centre-left Social Democrats. Even as the presidency stands above party politics, Steinmeier, 61, a lawyer and lifelong politician, is likely to be a boon for his party.
His election coincided with a Social Democratic surge in opinion polls since the centre-left chose Martin Schulz, a former president of the European Parliament, to lead them into battle against Merkel in the elections.
Schulz grew up in a village in the Aachen area, becoming mayor of the nearby town of Wurselen in 1987, and likes to tell stories from those days to portray himself as an ordinary guy. He first won election to the European Parliament in 1994, going on to become president in 2012. Most unusually for a German politician, he did not finish high school with a certificate, and trained initially as a bookseller.
He recently outpolled Merkel in personal popularity, 50 per cent to 34 per cent, in the widely regarded Politbarometer poll this month, albeit with a slightly smaller degree of support than Merkel’s last Social Democratic challenger had at a similar stage of the 2013 race.
Perhaps because he has spent most of his political career in European institutions in Brussels, Schulz can appear fresh to German voters.

The writer is a journalist based in Germany

Squeezed by far right, Merkel now faces a rising left

She is considered the indispensable European, yet one of the biggest questions looming over the continents crucial elections this year is whether Germany still regards Angela Merkel as indispensable, too. Seven months before national elections in Germany, the prevailing wisdom has held that Merkel, now seeking a fourth four-year term as chancellor, is most vulnerable to the rising popularity of the countrys far right, just as other populist, far-right parties are gaining in upcoming elections in the Netherlands and France. Yet suddenly, Germanys left has unexpectedly resurged, prompting Der Spiegel magazine this weekend to pose a question on its cover: Will She Fall? A reliable answer is not in sight. The shocks of 2016 Britains vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States have profoundly shaken Germany, which depends more than any other European nation on Pax Americana and global institutions set up after the Second World War. But on Sunday, the rebound of the left along with the broad German distaste for Trump that has helped fuel it was on full display. The popular centre-left Social Democrat Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has served in Merkels coalition government as foreign minister for seven years, won the presidency with 931 votes in the 1,260-member assembly that elects the president to a five-year term. Despite being a largely ceremonial position, the presidency provides stature and an important platform for Steinmeier, a popular and charismatic politician. In his brief acceptance speech, he encouraged Germans to be bold in difficult times. If we want to give others courage, then we must have some ourselves, he said on a day when many other speakers evoked the countrys dark past and its emergence as a democracy after the Nazis defeat in the Second World War. One marvel of travelling the world, he said, was to realise that Germany has become a model. Isnt it wonderful that this, our difficult fatherland, is seen as an anchor of hope for many people in the world? Steinmeier said. Before the vote, the conservative head of parliament, Norbert Lammert, gave a surprisingly fiery speech that without mentioning names attacked Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia for trying to divide or weaken Europe. Whoever champions a closed mind instead of openness to the world, whoever literally walls themselves in, bets on protectionism instead of free trade and preaches isolationism instead of states cooperating, and declares We first as a programme, should not be surprised if others do the same with all the fatal side effects for international ties which we know from the 20th century, Lammert said. That goes, he added, for individual European states but also for our great partner country across the Atlantic. Once, it would have been rare for German politicians to lecture other democracies on values, especially the United States, but Germany is now regarded as a critical pillar in upholding the liberal western order, which is one reason the September 24 national elections are being watched so closely. It is also why some of Merkels fellow conservatives quietly grumbled that she was outfoxed when she agreed to put Steinmeier forward as the presidential candidate of her grand coalition government, which unites her conservative bloc with the centre-left Social Democrats. Even as the presidency stands above party politics, Steinmeier, 61, a lawyer and lifelong politician, is likely to be a boon for his party. His election coincided with a Social Democratic surge in opinion polls since the centre-left chose Martin Schulz, a former president of the European Parliament, to lead them into battle against Merkel in the elections. Schulz grew up in a village in the Aachen area, becoming mayor of the nearby town of Wurselen in 1987, and likes to tell stories from those days to portray himself as an ordinary guy. He first won election to the European Parliament in 1994, going on to become president in 2012. Most unusually for a German politician, he did not finish high school with a certificate, and trained initially as a bookseller. He recently outpolled Merkel in personal popularity, 50 per cent to 34 per cent, in the widely regarded Politbarometer poll this month, albeit with a slightly smaller degree of support than Merkels last Social Democratic challenger had at a similar stage of the 2013 race. Perhaps because he has spent most of his political career in European institutions in Brussels, Schulz can appear fresh to German voters. The writer is a journalistbased in Germany