German government wobbles after Social Democrat leader quits

[turbinetree]

Source: Associated Press

By FRANK JORDANS 46 minutes ago

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed Sunday to continue with her government after the leader of the center-left Social Democrats, a junior partner in the coalition, resigned following a series of disappointing election results.

In a surprise announcement hours earlier, Andrea Nahles had announced she planned to quit, saying she wanted “clarity” after questions were raised about her ability to lead the Social Democrats. The party finished third in last month’s European Parliament election, receiving 15.8% of the vote behind Merkel’s center-right Union bloc with 28.9% and the Greens with 20.5%.

“The necessary support for me to carry out my duties isn’t there anymore,” Nahles said in a statement. The 48-year-old said she would be stepping down from her post as chairwoman of the Social Democrats and leader of its parliamentary faction in the coming days to ensure that her successors are found “in an orderly fashion.”

Merkel voiced respect for Nahles’ decision, calling her a “fine character” who she had worked with closely over the years.

Read more: https://apnews.com/c487655ac9c54d448b8d1f7c683562bf

[DetlefK]

1. They have been bleeding voters to the far left for a decade now.

It began in the early 2000s with the government of Chancellor Schroeder. To the shock of the far-left wing of the Social-Democrats, he was far more business-friendly than expected.

In 2007, the far-left wing of the Social-Democrats seceded and joined the socialists of the PDS, forming a new far-left party, "The Left".

Then the Social-Democrats joined Angela Merkel's coalition-government as the junior-partner. She implemented some policies of the Social-Democrats and stole their credit for this. With that, the Social-Democrats suddenly looked neutered and useless to the voters.

Then came the immigrant-crisis in Europe. The Social-Democrats tried an inoffensive middle-of-the-road approach, and again the voters punished them for being useless and toothless: The Social-Democrats lost again voters to the Greens and the far left.

And then came last months EU-election: The big topics were immigration and global-warming and again the Social-Democrats had nothing really exciting to offer. The big winner was again the Greens.