Angela Markel will lead a narrow coalition

Angela Merkel will have to lead a narrow coalition with a stronger opposition
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on September 27, 2009 election won the center-right majority that eluded her four years ago-nudging Europe’s biggest economic power to the rights as it claws its way out of deep recession. Over the past four years she has had to steer Germany through some difficult times, but remains very popular. She has certainly impressed Germans, scoring approval ratings of sixty percent. It is a major shift from the 2005 election, in which Merkel’s conservatives just squeaked by the Social Democrats. Barack Obama called Merkel to congratulate her and “looks forward to continued close cooperation with her.” Frecnh President Miclolas Sarkozy also congratulated her. Merkels second four year term will be markedly different from her first, in which she presided over a middle of the road government that was fractious but enjoyed a huge parliamentary majority. Merkel vowed ‘swift and decisive’ coalition talks, likely to be shorter than the two months of haggling that produced the ‘ grand coalition’ in 2005. With Germany struggling to recover from the deepest economic slump since World War II , voters spurned plans by Merkel’s Social Democratic challenger to raise taxes on top earners. There is a clear sentiment in favoru of economic changes especially on income taxes.
Merkel’s Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister , the Christian Social Union won 33.8 percent, in the elections to the 622 seat lower house of parliament and the Free Democrats 14.6 percent, the Social Democrats had 23 percent, a drop of 11.2 percentage points from 2005, the biggest decline for any party in postwar history. The anti-capitalist Left Party won 11.9 percent and the Greens 10.7 percent. Voter turnout was 72.5 percent. While CDU-FDP won a 42-seat majority, Merkel also steered her party to its worst result in modern Germanys’ 60year history. Merkel and Steinmeier’s two blocs saw their support plummet to 57 percent compared with a combined 69 percent in 2005 and 77 percent in 2002
As a female politician from a centre right party, and a scientist, Merkel has been compared by many in the English language press to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Some have referred to her as ‘Iron Lady’, ‘Iron Girl’ and even ‘Iron Frau’. Thathcer and Merkel’s political agenda also are similar. Merkel advocated a strong transatlantic partnership and German –American friendship. In the spring of 2003, defying strong public opposition, Merkel came out in favor of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, describing it as ‘unavoidable and accusing Chancellor Gerhard Schroder of anti-Americanism. This led some critics to characterize her as an ‘American lackey’. She criticized the government’s support for the accession of Turkey to the European Union and favoured a privileged partnership instead. In doing so she was seen being in unison with many Germans in rejecting Turkish membership of the European Union.
Merkel, elected to the German Parliament from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union CDU since April 10, 2000 and Chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary party group from 2002 to 2005. She leads a grand coalition with the Christian Social Union , its Bavarian sister party, and the Social Democratic Party of Germany, formed after the 2005 federal election on 22 November 2005. In 2007, Merkel was also President of the European Council and Chairwoman of the G8. Her mother was also a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Merkel was a member of the official Socialist-led youth movement Free German Youth. Later she became a member of the district board and secretary for Agitprop. She worked and studied at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin-Adlershof from 1978 to 1990. She learned to speak Russian fluently and earned a statewide prize for her proficiency. After being awarded a doctorate for her thesis on quantum chemistry, she worked as a researcher. In 1989 Merkel got involved in the growing democracy movement after the fall of the Berlin Wall, joining the new party Democratic Awakening. Following the first democratic election of the East German state, she became the deputy spokesperson of the new pre-unification caretaker government under Lothar de Maiziere. At the first post-reunification general election in December 1990, she was elected to the Bundestag from a constituency which includes the districts of Norvorpommern . Her party merged with the West German CDU and she became Minister for Women and Youth in Helmut Kohl’S third cabinet. In 1994 she was made Minister for the Environment and Nuclear Safety, which gave her greater political visibility and a platform on which to build her political career.
When Kohl government was defeated in the 1998 general election, Merkel was named Secretary General of the CDU. In this position, Merkel oversaw a string of Christian Democratic election victories in six out of seven state elections in 1999 alone breaking the SPD-Green coalition’s hold on the Bundesrat, the legislative body representing the states. Following Merkel’s election as CDU leader, she enjoyed considerable popularity among the German population and was favoured by many Germans to become Chancellor Gerhand Schroder’s challenger in the 2002 election. However, she did not receive enough support in her own party and particularly its sister party and was subsequently out-maneuvered politically by CSU leader Edmund Stoiber, to whom she eventually ceded the privilege of challenging Schroder . After Stobiber’s defeat in 2002, in addition to her role as CDU chairwoman, Merkel became leader of the conservative opposition in the lower house of the German parliament, the Bundestag. The conservative Merkel managed to end her four-year ‘grand coalition’ with the Social Democrats, thanks to a very strong showing by her new coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats
Merkel’s foreign policy is not expected to change significantly, analysts say. Guido Westerwelle the leader of the Free Democrats is expected to be the next foreign minister. His party is returning to government after an eleven-year absence. They say that they are pleased with this exceptional result but we know that above all else, this means responsibilityWesterwelle an attorney supports strong trans-Atlantic relations and advocates nuclear disarmament. He backs NATO’S military engagement in Afghanistan where Germany’s 42000 troops are stationed. Merkel pledged to cut the lowest tax rate to 12 percent from 14 percent and raise the threshold for the top rate to 60, 000 Euros from 52 000 Euros. Merkel’s popularity has been fueled by her consensual approach. She will now lead a narrower coalition with a stronger opposition and a self-confident new partner, but suggested that she would stick to her own style. Angela also told that her highest aim will be to protect and create job opportunities.
Merkel has called for modest middle-income tax relief, while Westerwelle who successfully portrayed his party as a champion of the middle class and small business-has called for far deeper tax cuts, with significant reductions in both the top and bottom rates. “that will be the Achillies’ heel ‘ of the Free Democrats and the new coalition as a whole , because it will not be possible to cut taxes, predicts Heinrich Oberreuter, a political science professor at the University of Passau. Merkel said she would press ahead with tax cuts and labor market deregulation after winning re-election with enough support to govern with the pro-business Free Democrats.
After being elected in 2005 Merkel entered into coalition with her rivals in the Social Democrats (SPD) including her 2009 election challenger and foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. That has meant ditching some of her planned free market reforms, and agreeing to more left-leaning measures like a minimum wage in some sectors and a huge fiscal stimulus. Many thought the coalition would break apart but Mrs. Merkel managed to hold it together and in fact take the credit for Germany’s emergence from recession . She has been criticized by some in her own party for an apparent shift to the left. But some analysts believe this is simply pragmatism. If the exit poll results are confirmed allowing her to ditch the SPD as a coalition partner in faviour of the pro-business FDP, she is likely to resurrect her promised economic reforms, analysts say. She is a pragmatic politician who inspires confidence.

Md. Masum Billah
Senior Manager: BRAC Education Programme, PACE
Phone: 9355253(res), 01714-091431(cell)
Email: mmbillah2000@yahoo.com

Date: 28.9.’09