Hamburg’s Thatcher

12 October 2005



Merkel Finally Gets German Chancellorship

Angela Merkel finally won the top job in Germany. Three weeks after the election, the Germans are getting close to having a government. The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and its Bavarian sister Christian Social Union (CSU), will share 6 of 14 ministries and Frau Merkel’s job, according to the BBC. The “defeated” Social Democrats (SDP) will get 8 of the 14, despite having fewer seats. If that were not confusing enough, the SDP has a conference coming up next month, and the grass-roots may reject the electoral pact.

The “Grand Coalition” between the biggest right-wing grouping and the biggest left-wing bloc in the Bundestag still has no program. For instance, the CDU/CSU is fairly well committed to free-market reforms of German society. Germany’s media dubbed the next chancellor the "Iron Maedchen" and "Maggie Merkel", a tribute to Lady Thatcher of Dulwich (that’s Mrs. Thatcher to those who don’t keep up with The Gazette). Michael Fuchs of the CDU explained a small difference, “She is a new Mrs. Thatcher, just with a smaller handbag.” On the other hand, the SPD exists to insulate Germans from the “Anglo-Saxon” model and has the record of the previous government to defend.

As difficult as reforming the faltering German economic and social model may be, the tougher part will be in foreign affairs. The SPD has won the job of Foreign Minister. The SPD wants Turkey as a full member of the EU, but the CDU believes a “privileged partnership” is better. The Turks won’t accept anything short of complete acceptance. And there is the little problem of ties to Washington. Outgoing Chancellor Schroeder made himself persona non grata at the White House by opposing Mr. Bush’s war against Iraq (Germans opposing war is historically happy regardless of one’s view of the Iraq attack); the CDU wants to shift slightly toward the Yanks and away from the French and Russians. They call it "more balanced."

Presuming they can cobble together some kind of legislative program that can win a majority vote in parliament, the parties must still convince the German voters that the program is a good one. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung warned that the common ground might produce something so watered-down that it would sink – “There is a danger that the SPD and the conservatives start competing to see who expects the least change from Germans.”

However, the real challenge is the SPD conference in November. If the delegates there reject the common program, or worse, if they find a way to demand a pull-out altogether, it is difficult to see how the Grand Coalition could even begin work. Dirk Niebel the General Secretary of the opposition Free Democrats, doesn’t expect the government to last more than a couple of years, and he has said, “The parties don't like each other really, people in both parties are not able to work together.” Mrs. Thatcher never had to sit in Cabinet with Old Labour.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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