The Economist - USA (2020-02-15)

TheEconomistFebruary 15th 2020 45

1

F

oreign newsreadersmight have cele-

brated. But otherwise there was little to

cheer when Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer,

universally known as akkthanks to her

tongue-twisting name, announced on Feb-

ruary 10th that she would resign as leader

of Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats

(cdu) and not stand as its candidate for

chancellor at the next election. By forcing

her party to confront its deep divisions, Ms

Kramp-Karrenbauer has thrown German

politics into a new era of uncertainty.

Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer was tripped up

by a debacle in the east German state of

Thuringia, where the cduhad voted with

the far-right Alternative for Germany (afd)

to install a member of a third party as state

premier. This “dam break”, the first time

afd votes had secured such an office, so

horrified Germany that Ms Kramp-Karren-

bauer had to try to repair the damage. But

her efforts floundered, the party split and

she was undermined when Angela Merkel,

the chancellor, chimed in to condemn the

result from a state visit in Pretoria, over

5,000 miles (8,000km) away. Ms Kramp-

Karrenbauer’s unsteady leadership had al-

ready left her future in doubt. A recent ap-

pointment as defence minister, a job she

will retain, did little to help. But Thuringia

tipped the balance. The decision, she said,

had “matured in her for some time”.

In 2018 Mrs Merkel quit the cduleader-

ship after 18 years. When the party elected

Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer to succeed her, the

road to the chancellery looked clear. Her

decision to bow out thus blows German

politics wide open. What happens next is

unclear. Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer wants to

remain in charge while the party follows an

old timetable to choose its candidate for

chancellor at the next election, due in au-

tumn 2021. But that could mean she hangs

around until a cducongress in December,

and few mps believe their party can dither

that long. Markus Söder, leader of the

Christian Social Union (csu), the cdu’s Ba-

varian partner, urges a faster pace, fearing

an extended airing of the cdu’s agonies

would affect his own party’s fortunes.

Mrs Merkel’s decision in 2018 to split the

job of chancellor and party leader is start-

ing to look like a grave misjudgement. In a

rare, if camouflaged, flash of disloyalty to-

wards her mentor, Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer

said as much in her resignation speech.

The positions of leader and chancellor-

candidate should now be fused, she said.

Yet aside from the procedural complex-

ities (the csumust back a joint chancellor-

candidate but has no role in the cdu’s lead-

ership race), whoever takes up the job will

face the same problem that bedevilled Ms

Kramp-Karrenbauer: how to retain author-

ity when real power resides with a chancel-

lor who may be in office until the end of

next year. With her succession plans in ru-

ins, some say the best way for Mrs Merkel

to clean up the mess she caused would be to

Germany’s government

Trouble at the top

BERLIN

The head of Germany’s largest party quits, blowing politics wide open

The rematch

“ Who should be the CDU/CSU candidate for

chancellor at the next election?”

Germany,%responding*

Source: Forsa *Polled February 10th 2020

None of them

Jens Spahn

Markus Söder

Armin Laschet

Friedrich Merz

100 403020

CDU/CSU supporters All voters

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