{"id":200525,"date":"2020-02-10T19:05:32","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T16:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ww-vb.mine.nu\/w108\/merkel-takes-reins-in-finding-heir-after-fallen-protege-quits\/"},"modified":"2020-02-10T19:05:32","modified_gmt":"2020-02-10T16:05:32","slug":"merkel-takes-reins-in-finding-heir-after-fallen-protege-quits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/merkel-takes-reins-in-finding-heir-after-fallen-protege-quits\/","title":{"rendered":"Merkel Takes Reins in Finding Heir After Fallen Protege Quits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(Bloomberg) &#8212; Angela Merkel inserted herself into the selection of her Christian Democratic party\u2019s next chancellor candidate after her former protege unexpectedly threw in the towel, leaving the race to lead Europe\u2019s largest economy wide open.<\/p>\n<p>The long-time German leader said she will \u201ccooperate very well\u201d with Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who stepped down as party chief on Monday after a series of gaffes capped by her inability to reel in a rogue state chapter. With the party divided and rudderless, Merkel made clear that she intended to play a direct role in choosing her potential successor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI acknowledged this decision today with the greatest amount of respect, but I want to say that I regret it,\u201d Merkel told reporters in Berlin. \u201cI can well imagine that this was not an easy decision for Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, and I thank her that she\u2019s prepared to accompany the process for choosing a candidate for the chancellorship as party chairwoman.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kramp-Karrenbauer, widely known by her initials AKK, was hand-picked by Merkel to safeguard her legacy. The former state leader from Saarland held off a challenger from a more conservative faction within the CDU who wanted more support for business and less emphasis on the environment and social issues.<\/p>\n<p>While those demands are likely to return, Merkel is in position to steer the process toward more centrist candidates as the leadership race heats up before she plans to step down next year at the latest.<\/p>\n<p>AKK was unable to stamp her authority on the party since taking charge of the CDU in December 2018 and was humiliated last week when a local chapter in eastern Germany defied her orders and threw its lot in with the far-right Alternative for Germany.<\/p>\n<p>Hanging over the process is the dilemma of how the CDU should handle the return of far-right politics in the former communist east. Many voters there have turned to the AfD because they feel left behind during years of economic growth and resent Berlin\u2019s perceived largess toward refugees. The party\u2019s official stance is that there can be no cooperation with the AfD at any level, but local officials have been questioning whether that remains practical.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"link rapid-noclick-resp caas-button collapse-button\" aria-label=\"\" title=\"\" data-ylk=\"g:c0957b20-389c-3078-aec8-df478bfafd7c;elm:readmore;slk:Story continues\">Story continues<\/button><\/p>\n<p>AKK\u2019s downfall was ultimately triggered when the CDU in Thuringia voted alongside the AfD to elect a state premier last week. Local leader Mike Mohring has been forced to back track, but other CDU officials in the east have signaled sympathy for his maneuver as he tries to maintain support for the party.<\/p>\n<p>The CDU\u2019s flirtation with the AfD is \u201cvery worrisome,\u201d said Norbert Walter-Borjans, the co-leader of the Social Democrats, Merkel\u2019s junior coalition partner, which is also searching for a candidate to lead its next national election campaign.<\/p>\n<p>AKK told party colleagues at a meeting in Berlin that one reason for her decision is the unclear relationship between parts of the CDU and the far-right AfD and the anti-capitalist Left party. At a press conference in Berlin, she underscored her stand that the CDU needs to be strictly opposed to any cooperation with the two fringe parties.<\/p>\n<p>Leadership Contest<\/p>\n<p>The outgoing CDU leader said that she believes her successor should also be the candidate for chancellor in 2021. She plans to organize the selection process by the summer and then step down once a decision has been made. The new direction should be sealed at a party convention in December.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must be stronger, stronger than today,\u201d Kramp-Karrenbauer said in a brief press conference in Berlin. \u201cBy refraining from running for chancellor, I can be much more free in shaping the process,\u201d she said, adding that her decision would not impact the stability of the coalition.<\/p>\n<p>AKK\u2019s departure was welcomed by the party\u2019s right. Olav Gutting, a lawmaker who has been critical of Merkel\u2019s moderate course, said mistakes had \u201cpiled up\u201d under AKK and her departure spares the CDU a \u201cdestructive test.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRegardless of personal sympathy, one has to see that the base had growing doubts about AKK\u2019s capabilities for the chancellorship,\u201d Gutting told Bloomberg News. He declined to speculate on her successor, which he expected to be in place in the second half of the year.<\/p>\n<p>Merkel asked AKK, who is her defense minister, to stay on in her position in the cabinet, an official said. She took the cabinet post in July when it was vacated by Ursula von der Leyen, who had been appointed as European Commission president.<\/p>\n<p>Ill-at-ease, isolated, and struggling for relevance, the CDU leader failed to unite the party behind her. She made a series of gaffes that irritated insiders and made her widely unpopular with voters. Officials at CDU headquarters in Berlin had become increasingly worried that their leader won\u2019t be a viable candidate.<\/p>\n<p>Thuringia was her final debacle. Even as she sought to clear up the mess, she was unable to convince local officials to support new elections in the region as a way to clear the slate in a five-hour meeting that lasted until early Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Her retreat opens the way for others to press forward to lead Germany\u2019s strongest party. Potential contenders are deputy chairman Armin Laschet, a well connected state leader from North Rhine-Westphalia; up-and-coming Health Minister Jens Spahn; former Merkel nemesis Friedrich Merz; and Markus Soeder, the leader of the Bavarian CSU sister party.<\/p>\n<p>With Merkel pulling the strings, the process could favor Laschet, who is more centrist than the other top contenders.<\/p>\n<p>(Adds comments from AKK and SPD leader)<\/p>\n<p>To contact the reporters on this story: Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.net;Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net<\/p>\n<p>To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Ben Sills, Chris Reiter<\/p>\n<p>For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a92020 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/kramp-karrenbauer-step-down-leader-083902496.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] (Bloomberg) &#8212; Angela Merkel inserted herself into the selection of her Christian Democratic party\u2019s next chancellor candidate after her former protege unexpectedly threw in the towel, leaving the race to lead Europe\u2019s largest economy wide open. The long-time German leader said she will \u201ccooperate very well\u201d with Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who stepped down as party &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":200526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tie-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}