For the last decade Germany’s unflappable chancellor Angela Merkel has shone as one of the planet’s most rational and considered world leaders.
And to be fair, she’s not had a lot of competition in a world where Teresa May is scrambling to survive Brexit, China’s Xi Jinping is consolidating his hold on power and much of the world is electing autocratic strongmen with colourfully fascist tendencies: from Russia’s Vladimir Putin, to the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte, to Brazil’s newly elected president Jair Bolsonaro, to this very stable genius.
To be fair, the umbrella is a very, very difficult technology to master. Especially with tiny hands.
However, following her Christian Democratic Party being hammered in a couple of devastating by elections she’s announced that she’s been sent a “clear signal that things can’t go on as they are”.
Which is weird, because here in Australia we know that embarrassing by election losses are apparently absolutely nothing to worry about, and certainly no reason to change climate change policy or anything, even if they lose the government their majority in parliament.
Anyway, Merkel will not be standing as a candidate for leader at the upcoming party conference in December, will not be seeking re-election at Germany’s next federal election in 2021 and will leave politics altogether thereafter.
Strong finger gun game.
The announcement is an attempt to help settle disputes within her coalition government, largely over immigration and treatment of refugees. Merkel hopes that stepping down will allow the government to focus on governing, as “the picture the government is sending out is unacceptable”.
And sure, the very idea that the leader of a government would consider resigning for the good of the party out of concern that their obvious internal battles are making citizens lose their faith in the value of government might seem baffling to Australians, who are used to that being very much the natural order of things.
But hey, those wacky Germans, eh?
Fun fact: in the 13 years Merkel has been German chancellor, she’s dealt with six Australian Prime Ministers. Some more exasperatedly than others.
The upshot is that Merkel will remain as chancellor until an election is held, despite not being chair of the party – which will be determined in December. She’s also declined to support any of the candidates on the grounds that she doesn’t want to influence the decision.
The opposition have predictably demanded that she stand down immediately, while her political colleagues are relieved at the chance to rebuild their support.
But it’s hard to imagine that it’s not going to cramp the CDU’s style when they start seeing someone else, having Angela sitting on the couch watching Inspector Rex while they’re trying to get politically hot and heavy.
