Mr. Franklin, you’ve missed a very important detail. A large contributing factor to the Union’s terrible performance is likely to have been the recent mask scandal: CSU MP (Georg Nüßlein) and CDU MP Nikolas Löbel have been caught up in what I’ll call “Maskgate”. Löbel has admitted that his company received a EUR 250,000 commission for the sale of facemasks. Nüßlein is said to have also received commissions for the sale of facemasks and public prosecutors in Munich are investigating him on suspicion of corruption.
If only the public prosecutors would get busy addressing the corruption surrounding the provision of PPE etc in the UK.
Paul Marks
3 years ago
Under Merkel the CDU stands for nothing – not the German nation (of which she is ashamed – as if centuries of German history can be summed up by the 12 years 1933 to 1945), not economic liberalism (economic policy has been a gradual move to the position of the SPD – minimum wage law, inheritance tax, more government control of medicine,….), not even nuclear power – as Chancellor Merkel has agreed to abolish it (which makes the promise of reducing C02 emissions to “net zero” impossible).
As for the Greens – the German Greens are not as extreme as the British ones, but their policies are a mass of contradictions (such as no nuclear power – and net zero C02 emissions), but they are a “new broom” they have not been in power before, at least not at the national level. The Germans may well vote for them in September – and then, soon, bitterly regret it.
Annette Kralendijk
3 years ago
After the refugee crisis and covid, it’s a wonder that her legacy was even expected to continue. An argument for term limits surely, 16 years is way too long.
Merkel’s sell-by-date was 2016. Since then she’s just been limping on because there was no real alternative. There still aren’t any brilliant alternatives, it’s just that she’s definitely not running in the upcoming elections. For Germany and the EU, it’s going to be like being left at nursery on your own by mummy for the first time.
Well, mummy has made a bunch of really bad decisions so it’s probably a good thing that the kids are getting dropped off.
Fraser Bailey
3 years ago
I missed these election, so thank you to Peter for bringing us some good news, for once. In particular, it’s good to hear that Laschet might not succeed Merkel. I have not read or heard anything good about him.
jvirgin jvirgin
3 years ago
In the end this is not surprising -the vaccine rollout debacle is also catching up with her. Germany’s handling of C-19 looked good for a while, not so much now even if still much better than the UK’s . Overall Angela Merkel is well overrated. She is a a clever politician – hence her longevity – but she typified being in the right place at the right time and making the most of her opportunity. Within 10 years I think she will have little legacy – see https://www.jpost.com/International/Middle-Israel-Germanys-tragic-heroine-561776 for a good and interesting overview of her political career to add to the comments .
Mr. Franklin, you’ve missed a very important detail. A large contributing factor to the Union’s terrible performance is likely to have been the recent mask scandal: CSU MP (Georg Nüßlein) and CDU MP Nikolas Löbel have been caught up in what I’ll call “Maskgate”. Löbel has admitted that his company received a EUR 250,000 commission for the sale of facemasks. Nüßlein is said to have also received commissions for the sale of facemasks and public prosecutors in Munich are investigating him on suspicion of corruption.
If only the public prosecutors would get busy addressing the corruption surrounding the provision of PPE etc in the UK.
Under Merkel the CDU stands for nothing – not the German nation (of which she is ashamed – as if centuries of German history can be summed up by the 12 years 1933 to 1945), not economic liberalism (economic policy has been a gradual move to the position of the SPD – minimum wage law, inheritance tax, more government control of medicine,….), not even nuclear power – as Chancellor Merkel has agreed to abolish it (which makes the promise of reducing C02 emissions to “net zero” impossible).
As for the Greens – the German Greens are not as extreme as the British ones, but their policies are a mass of contradictions (such as no nuclear power – and net zero C02 emissions), but they are a “new broom” they have not been in power before, at least not at the national level. The Germans may well vote for them in September – and then, soon, bitterly regret it.
After the refugee crisis and covid, it’s a wonder that her legacy was even expected to continue. An argument for term limits surely, 16 years is way too long.
Merkel’s sell-by-date was 2016. Since then she’s just been limping on because there was no real alternative. There still aren’t any brilliant alternatives, it’s just that she’s definitely not running in the upcoming elections. For Germany and the EU, it’s going to be like being left at nursery on your own by mummy for the first time.
Well, mummy has made a bunch of really bad decisions so it’s probably a good thing that the kids are getting dropped off.
I missed these election, so thank you to Peter for bringing us some good news, for once. In particular, it’s good to hear that Laschet might not succeed Merkel. I have not read or heard anything good about him.
In the end this is not surprising -the vaccine rollout debacle is also catching up with her. Germany’s handling of C-19 looked good for a while, not so much now even if still much better than the UK’s . Overall Angela Merkel is well overrated. She is a a clever politician – hence her longevity – but she typified being in the right place at the right time and making the most of her opportunity. Within 10 years I think she will have little legacy – see https://www.jpost.com/International/Middle-Israel-Germanys-tragic-heroine-561776 for a good and interesting overview of her political career to add to the comments .