"Mom" Merkel under the pressure of the party turned right

Why in Germany there were irreversible changes

The outgoing 2016 year was marked in Germany by the consequences of the migration crisis. The culture proclaimed by Chancellor Merkel "Welcome!" And the slogan “We can handle it!”, Having become topics of hot discussions from the Bundestag to the rural beer, German society was split. The number of supporters of the Pegide movement (patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West) was steadily growing, the right -winging party “Alternative for Germany” (AFD), which adopted criticism of the government’s migration policy, rapidly gained political weight. Attempts by the authorities and the liberal press to present them to the marginals failed.

The Big Coalition parties The Christian Democratic Union (CDS) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SDPG) suffered significant losses in the regional elections to land parliaments. And the AFD rating was steadily rising, which gave the political scientists an occasion to assert: a significant reformation of the German political landscape is coming, which, most likely, will be the end of the Era Merkel.

This forecast was supported by internal disagreements in the ranks of the CDU on the problem of migrants. Many members of the party, including in the leadership, did not approve of Merkel’s position, which categorically refused to recognize the mistakes of its open door policy.

The Youth Organization of Christian Democrats Junge Union openly urged the chancellor to change the course. The leader of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSS) Horst Zeehover entered into a public conflict, ultimatically demanding to close the borders and establish the annual upper bar for migrants of 200 thousand people. Otherwise, he threatened to interrupt organizational ties with the CDU, and from his entourage there were hints of a possible nomination of Zeehover’s candidacy to federal chancellors.

But very soon it became clear that “family conflicts” negatively affect the authority of the ruling party. In the land of Mecklenburg, the passing of the HDS, according to the results of the elections in the Landtag, sank into third place, missing the “alternatives” ahead. In the capital of Berlin, Christian democrats due to defeat in the election campaign lost the chances of participating in the formation of the city Senate, thereby opening the prospect of social democrats to create a coalition with left and “green”-the so-called red-red-green coalition. And this was already a precedent with an eye on the federal elections of 2017.

In the CDU, the process of consolidation of forces began before the decisive battle for the preservation of power. Merkel in a mild form admitted that she made mistakes in migration policy.

The Ministry of the Interior, controlled by the Lawyer Frau Chancellor Thomas de Mesier, initiated the adoption of the integration law, which contained strict standards of refugee stay in Germany - mandatory linguistic and vocational training, a fixed place of residence to independent employment. In addition, a 3-year ban on the reunification of families was introduced, and the Syrians, having deprived them of the privileged status, limited the period of provision of asylum until the restoration of peaceful conditions in their homeland.

However, the party has one significant problem. Angel Merkel has been heading the HDS for more than 16 years, since 2005 he has been a chancellor. Although the German political culture developed by the whole post -war history excludes authoritarianism and any form of the personality cult, nevertheless, permanent leadership led to the fact that among Christian democrats there was a shortage of politicians who, in popularity and recognition, could approach the level of Merkel, not to mention it competed with it.

At 2-3 years ago, Merkel’s successors were also visited by Ursula von der Lyain-the current Minister of Defense, and the promising Julia Klekner-Deputy Chairman of the CDU, and a number of second-plan figures. Over the years, the soft aristocratic von von der Lyayen was unable to take a high place in the rating of federal ministers for the traditional rating of federal ministers for Germany. The young Klekner attracts attention with dynamism and emotional openness, but she still lacks political experience. In addition, Klekner this year lost the elections in the native land of the Rhineland Palatz.

The personnel hunger of Christian democrats for leaders clearly manifested itself during the search for a candidate for the presidency of the Federal Republic of Germany, whom the Federal Assembly should elect in February next year. The SDPG proposed to support the “Big Coalition” partner to support the nomination of the Social Democrat, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. This did not suit Merkel, but, in the end, she had to relieve her heart - there were no politicians in her native party who could compete with a worthy competition for the popular head of the German foreign policy.

Thus, the leadership of the CDS had no choice but to rely on Merkel again on the eve of the Bundestag elections. She herself paused for a long time, moving away from the answer to the persistent questions of journalists about plans for the future. Not from modesty and not for the sake of intrigue. It was not easy to decide. The former glory of the “mother of the nation” buried the migration crisis - each public performance of the Chancellor caused a flurry of negative, and often insulting comments on social networks.

But the parties in the party crushed - "Who, if not you?" And Merkel gave up.

In 2015, Time magazine, calling the German Chancellor “Persona of the Year”, noted its personal contribution to the struggle for a humane attitude towards refugees as the basis of Western democracy. Now, at the CDU Congress in Essen, a completely different politician performed.

“The events of the summer of 2015,” said Merkel, “cannot, should not and do not have the right to repeat.” In the hall and beyond, these words were perceived as the personal repentance of the chancellor. And if party delegates met them with applause, then many third -party observers spoke of the refusal of the leader of the CDU from the position of a balanced center and an obvious turn towards right -wing conservatism.

This assessment largely reinforced the further passage in Merkel’s speech about the strengthening of the integration of migrants without any exceptions based on strictly compliance with laws. In this regard, she, causing stormy applause, supported the complete ban on public wearing Nikab (a Muslim female headdress with a slot for the eyes - ed.). “We do not want any parallel societies,” the Chancellor emphasized.

Merkel metamorphosis is explained. The CDU is a difficult process of reviewing the party course. Leading functionaries, alarmed that in places a third or more ordinary party members voted in the last regional elections for AFD, are increasingly acting with such proposals on the problem of refugees who are not much different from the slogans of the "alternatives". In this sense, the most indicative was a package of anti-migration measures, put forward on the very eve of the congress, deputy chairman of the party, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Earth Baden-Württemberg Thomas Strem: do not consider the application for refugees without reliable documents, simplify the procedure for compulsory expulsion of refuseniks, including patients and pregnant women, all caught in the Mediterranean Sea. Place in temporary camps in Egypt.

However, having lost in migration policy, Merkel had to endure another humiliation. The congress at the initiative of the Junge Union included in the program document the requirement to revise the procedure for recognizing double citizenship, leaving only German legal. This affects the interests of millions of Turks and representatives of other peoples living in Germany. At one time, the right to choose citizenship for children of ethnic minorities was one of the conditions of the SDPG on the formation of a “large coalition” with the CDU, and Merkel personally focused on negotiations, holding out a coalition agreement with its signature.

At the end of the congress, she, trying to mitigate the consequences, noted that the abolition of dual citizenship would not become the theme of the election campaign of Christian democrats. It turned out even worse - the newly elected party chairman disavowed, in fact, the decision of the highest party instance. The Basis of the HDS perceived this negatively.

Yes, and an immediate reaction followed from political allies and opponents. SDPG chairman Sigmar Gabriel promised to demand an explanation from a coalition partner. Representatives of the Green and Lefts did not fail to notice that the CDU finally left the platform of liberal democratic values, and with such a level of falling he only had to ask for allies to the AFD.

At the Congress of Angela Merkel, having received the majority (almost 90%) of the votes of delegates, retained the post of chairman and will lead the CDU to the 2017 elections. It would seem that everything is like in the good old days: there is a reliable steering, there is a cohesive team. At the same time, both the atmosphere of the party forum, and events outside its walls testify - irreversible changes have come. At the previous congress two years ago, Merkel set an ambitious goal in front of his associates: the HDS line is the future of Germany. This time, the leader, turning from the rostrum to the whole party, openly stated: "You must help me!"