EditorialGermany’s Christian Democratic Union needs to tackle problems and find successor to Angela Merkel
- China and the EU are among those looking on anxiously since favoured replacement for German leader quit in wake of election scandal
For all the virtues of Western-style democracy, the complexities of its workings can be unsettling for foreign partners.
Beijing faces such uncertainty after German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s favoured successor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, decided to resign as head of the country’s main governing party.
Her announcement following an election scandal after just 14 months as leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has caused political shock waves. But there is also need for China, the European Union and others to be anxious about the future direction of the continent’s most important power.
Merkel does not intend to stand for re-election next year and Kramp-Karrenbauer, also the German defence minister, was being groomed to replace her.
But a number of gaffes raised doubts about whether she was right for the job and the undermining of her authority by the party’s local politicians in a recent state election confirmed her inability to garner respect.
They disobeyed CDU policy and joined forces with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to elect a little-known liberal candidate as regional premier.