Twin resignations batter crisis-weary Merkel

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Mw. Merkel begint zich geïsoleerd te voelen.
Ze heeft beslist geen makkelijke periode: troepen in Afghanistan (voor
naoorlogs-Duitsland een enorme stap, die 'ongemakkelijke' offers
vraagt), de bankencrisis en belastingverhoging, de regerende
parlementaire minderheidspositie en nu de nakende confrontatie met de
ECB (en dus Frankrijk).

Groet / Cees

Twin resignations batter crisis-weary Merkel
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=twin-resignations-batter-crisis-weary-merkel-2010-06-01
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
BERLIN – From wire dispatches
Resignation of German President Horst Koehler, second high-profile
resignation within a week, creates a fresh headache for Chancellor
Angela Merkel, already suffering from plunging popularity rating less
than a year into a second term

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, battered from all sides for her
response to Europe's economic crisis, was in more hot water Tuesday
after the second high-profile resignation within a week.

Only six days after Roland Koch, the outspoken premier of Hesse, home to
banking capital Frankfurt, stepped down, President Horst Koehler shocked
Germany Monday with an emotional resignation. Both moves came out of the
blue.

Analysts said the loss of two heavyweights from her centre-right
Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, was a fresh headache for the Merkel,
already suffering from plunging popularity ratings less than a year into
a second term.

"She has lost Koch, she is losing Koehler, who is not very important in
terms of political power, but it is symbolic and it could create some
panic," said political scientist Nils Diederich from Berlin's Free
University. "If she doesn't manage to get a grip on her political agenda
in the coming weeks, she is not going to serve out her full term," he added.

Merkel, 55, said she "wholeheartedly" regretted Koehler's resignation
and admitted she would miss the advice of the former head of the
International Monetary Fund, particularly on economic and financial issues.

And she now finds herself having to identify, within 30 days, a
candidate for the largely ceremonial post who would be acceptable to all
sides of her squabbling coalition of conservatives and pro-business Free
Democrats.

"Koehler's resignation in the midst of the euro-crisis could push Angela
Merkel's ... coalition into severe difficulties," commented influential
mass circulation daily Bild. "Merkel has already lost CDU-mentor Roland
Koch. This is another serious setback," the paper added. However,
another political analyst, Lothar Probst, from the University of Bremen,
played down the consequences for Merkel, stressing that "for the moment,
no one is calling for her to step down."

"If she can bring some calm to the coalition, she can still finish her
term without too much damage," he told AFP. But the resignations
represented the latest in a string of political reverses both at home
and abroad for Merkel, last year voted Forbes magazine's most powerful
woman for the fourth consecutive time.

"I tried to get the president to change his mind but unfortunately I was
unsuccessful," Merkel said. "I always worked very well together with
Horst Koehler. He was an important adviser, particularly in the
financial and economic crisis, with his large international experience.
Merkel canceled a trip to Vilnius on Tuesday to focus on finding a
replacement after President Horst Koehler's surprise resignation. She
said no immediate candidates have emerged. Merkel said that for now it
is "completely open" who the candidate might be - politician or
outsider, man or woman.

Domestically, she lost a key regional election on May 9 that cost her
the majority in Germany's upper house. Further afield, she has been
slammed for what is seen as a hesitant response to the fiscal crisis in
Greece and faces a flood of fiscal red ink herself that may mean she has
to raise taxes after campaigning on a promise to cut them.

Meanwhile, 39 German soldiers have died since 2002 in Afghanistan in a
mission that is bitterly unpopular in the country. It was Afghanistan
that caused the resignation of the 67-year-old Koehler after he came
under fire for comments about Germany's overseas military action in
which he appeared to justify the mission in terms of commercial gain.

As for Koch, he said he was stepping down to work in the private sector,
denying furiously that he was leaving due to a spat with Merkel, whose
meteoric rise is widely seen to have caused resentment in the 52-year-old.

After Koehler stepped down, Merkel said: "I think that the German people
will be very sad about this resignation." And according to the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Merkel too has reason to be sad.
Koehler's "act of desperation" in resigning "does not augur well for the
future of this coalition," the influential daily said in an editorial.

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