Unlock free Digest editor
Roula Khalaf, editor of FT, chooses her favorite story in this weekly newsletter.
On Monday, the stands offered the popcorn of Friedrich Merz at the Berlin Congress of the German Christian Democratic Union. And so they could. Merz, leader of the Cent-a-Right CDU and Frontrunner to be a chancellor in federal elections on February 2nd.
Last week, Merz encouraged two parliamentary maneuvers intended to show his willingness to take drastic steps to suppress immigration. The first, unimaginative proposal that requires the stricter rules of immigration and more powers to remove asylum failed seekers, was adopted only with the support of the extremely right alternative for Germany (AFD). Another voice, to turn the proposal into a real proposal, It just fell short Despite the support of AFD.
Merz had previously vowed that he would not seek parliamentary majority of the extreme right, let alone any tacit arrangement or formal coalition. But he claimed that stabbing Until the death of a two -year -old child and a passerby who tried to help in the Bavarian last month, allegedly from the failed Afghan asylum seeker who was ordered to leave the country, they deserved the exception. The terrible crime was the last in a series of attacks with suspicious perpetrators of asylum seekers. The polls suggest that most Germans want immigration limitations.
Merz claims that it was crucial for the CDU to clarify where it stands on this issue – and compares its position with the more allowed social democracy and greenery, which is to blame that he is not willing to support his move. But his hit with AFD launched anger among those who say he broke a “firewall” against cooperation between the main parties and the far right at the national and state level, potentially weakening the German Democratic foundations. Parts of AFD are considered extremistist by the German domestic intelligence agency.
Over the weekend, 160,000 demonstrations came to the streets of the German capital to protest because of Merz’s move. In sharp reprimand, former Cancer Cdu Angela Merkel said It was “wrong” and it called on all the main parties to “work together through party lines, not as tactical maneuvers, but in a good faith, a moderate tone and based on the applicable European Law.”
Merz may not have bothered Merkel’s criticism, whose central heritage went in the trash. But his maneuver looks from the best dangerous gambling and in the worst case. He used to confirm AFD, whose MPs cheered a rare parliamentary victory last week. The offer was sown with the most likely CDU coalition partners, SPD or greenery. Merz insists that the firewall is safe with it, but what is it to prevent it from finding further exceptions? The conservative opposition leader has transformed the campaign into a referendum on his judgment and what many see as their impulsive temperament when there should be a failure of the departure government and the response to the economic discomfort of Germany.
CDU loses the land on the polls from the end of last year and struggles to remain above 30 percent, according to FT -O’s survey tracker. AFD, meanwhile, crawls above 20 percent. One poll last week put two parties only six points. Merz He will hope that his difficult immigration attitude will turn the tide. The Germans, after all, move to the right, like neighbors. However, there is little evidence from all over Europe to seek the attempt to reconcile or surpass the more radical challengers in favor of the main conservative parties. German chances to ensure the strong and stable coalition she needed could suffer as a result of Merz’s wrong judgments.
