The resignation of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s designated successor, has plunged the party into crisis and raised fresh doubts about the survival of the country's ruling coalition. The biggest beneficiaries of the current chaos may well be the Greens.
LONDON – An earthquake is shaking Germany’s normally placid political scene, after elections last October in the eastern state of Thuringia produced a stalemate that remained unresolved until early this month, when a liberal underdog was elected minister-president with help from the far-right Alternative für Deutschland and local Christian Democratic Union politicians. The CDU’s cooperation with the AfD constituted a major breach of the post-war German consensus ruling out mainstream parties’ cooperation with the far right, and generated bitterness across the political spectrum.
LONDON – An earthquake is shaking Germany’s normally placid political scene, after elections last October in the eastern state of Thuringia produced a stalemate that remained unresolved until early this month, when a liberal underdog was elected minister-president with help from the far-right Alternative für Deutschland and local Christian Democratic Union politicians. The CDU’s cooperation with the AfD constituted a major breach of the post-war German consensus ruling out mainstream parties’ cooperation with the far right, and generated bitterness across the political spectrum.