Angela Merkel will not seek re-election as chair of Germany's ruling CDU party, effectively standing down as leader of the Christian Democratic Union, a post she has held for 18 years, after a disastrous performance by her party in regional elections in the German state of Hesse on Sunday badly dented her authority, and followed an ultimatum by her junior coalition partner, the SPD which also suffered a devastating loss in latest elections.
According to Spiegel and Bild, Merkel, who has chaired the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, was expected to compete again at the party congress in Hamburg in early December; however in what many are calling "The end of an era" during which her command of Germany put its stamp on Europe and beyond for more than a decade, on Monday morning she told senior party executives that she would not stand again.
While Merkel is expected to remain as chancellor, for now, her decision to cede the party leadership is a sign of her dwindling power in the CDU.Though she remains one of Germany's most popular politicians, her fellow Christian Democrats have long been demanding that she clear a path for her successor.
As we reported on Sunday, the CDU won the election in Hesse, but its share of the vote fell by more than 11 points, while the junior partner in her governing grand coalition, the Social Democrats, also slumped.
While Merkel can assume she'll have the support to remain chancellor, "She's broken the game for her succession wide open" according to Bloomberg, although doing it in a dramatic fashion, a surprise, as she has here, may help throw her competitors off balance.
If Merkel does stay on as chancellor, could this free her up to throw some caution to the wind and steer the ship safely without having to worry about burning political capital?
Germany's DAX30 has extended gains to more than 1% since the first media reports of Merkel not seeking to continue as CDU leader, largely on the back of the weaker euro.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-10-29/merkel-step-down-cdu-leader-after-disastrous-election-results
According to Spiegel and Bild, Merkel, who has chaired the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, was expected to compete again at the party congress in Hamburg in early December; however in what many are calling "The end of an era" during which her command of Germany put its stamp on Europe and beyond for more than a decade, on Monday morning she told senior party executives that she would not stand again.
While Merkel is expected to remain as chancellor, for now, her decision to cede the party leadership is a sign of her dwindling power in the CDU.Though she remains one of Germany's most popular politicians, her fellow Christian Democrats have long been demanding that she clear a path for her successor.
As we reported on Sunday, the CDU won the election in Hesse, but its share of the vote fell by more than 11 points, while the junior partner in her governing grand coalition, the Social Democrats, also slumped.
While Merkel can assume she'll have the support to remain chancellor, "She's broken the game for her succession wide open" according to Bloomberg, although doing it in a dramatic fashion, a surprise, as she has here, may help throw her competitors off balance.
If Merkel does stay on as chancellor, could this free her up to throw some caution to the wind and steer the ship safely without having to worry about burning political capital?
Germany's DAX30 has extended gains to more than 1% since the first media reports of Merkel not seeking to continue as CDU leader, largely on the back of the weaker euro.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-10-29/merkel-step-down-cdu-leader-after-disastrous-election-results
No comments:
Post a Comment