Merkel Gets Reprieve as Unsteady Coalition Postpones Showdown
Merkel's Junior Coalition Partner Suffers Double Blow at Ballot
(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel looks likely to hang on to power for now as the parties in her ruling coalition vowed to make internal changes to boost their flagging appeal with voters, delaying a potential showdown until the fall at the earliest.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the leader of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, ruled out changes to top personnel after Sunday’s European Parliament elections, but promised that the CDU will learn the appropriate lessons from its worst-ever showing in a national vote.
The head of Merkel’s SPD junior coalition partner, Andrea Nahles, said the seriousness of Sunday’s electoral setback -- when the party slipped to third behind the Greens in the ballot for the European Parliament and lost in the city-state of Bremen for the first time since World War II -- is “clear to all.” The party will now look toward a mid-term review and fall elections in Eastern German states to assess its role in government.
“I certainly didn’t sleep well and I am pretty sure that was the case with many Social Democrats,” a glum-looking Nahles told reporters after a party leadership meeting in Berlin. The mid-term review of the coalition is unlikely to be brought forward, despite some calls for that from within the party, she added.
The reaction suggests that Merkel’s fourth and final term will remain rocky, but isn’t likely to end soon. The SPD reluctantly agreed to enter a third alliance with Merkel 14 months ago, and the latest setback could still revive calls among its restive base to bring down the chancellor. At the same time, the fragility of the coalition could undermine Germany’s ability to push its agenda.
In Sunday’s vote, support for the SPD nearly halved to 15.8% in the European ballot, while in its traditional stronghold of Bremen, the party came in second to Merkel’s Christian Democrats, according to public broadcaster ARD.
“After a result like this, we can’t just return to business as usual,” Michael Roth, a deputy minister in the SPD-run foreign ministry, told reporters Monday. “But if you’re looking for conspiracies about a palace revolt, that’s not coming,” he added, referring to speculation Nahles could be ousted.
| European Parliament Vote | 2019 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|
| CDU/CSU | 28.9% | 35.3% |
| SPD | 15.8% | 27.3% |
| Greens | 20.5% | 10.7% |
| AfD | 11% | 7.1% |
Nahles said she plans to see through internal reforms to make the party fit for the next election in 2021, implying she remains committed to the coalition with Merkel’s Christian Democrats for now.
Besides narrowly coming first in Bremen, Merkel’s CDU-led bloc has little to cheer about. Support in the European ballot fell by 6.4 percentage points and could drive a further wedge between Merkel and her chosen successor, Kramp-Karrenbauer.
The ruling coalition should focus on policy, Kramp-Karrenbauer, who succeeded Merkel as CDU leader in December, said Monday. The leadership will undertake a full analysis at a June 2 meeting, which took Merkel by surprise when it was announced, according to people familiar with the situation.
Kramp-Karrenbauer said she is looking to complete an internal overhaul by late 2020 to pick a chancellor candidate for the election due the following year, noting that the CDU was slow to react to a critical YouTube video that went viral.
--With assistance from Iain Rogers.
To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net;Birgit Jennen in Berlin at bjennen1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Chris Reiter, Andrew Blackman
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