Nausicaa
09-29-2009, 08:06 PM
Of course, no word from our right wing friends on this forum about the German elections last Sunday...they are all too busy browsing the web about their same favorite three subjects. Not that I am sure all know where Germany actually is :D
So I will deliver the news then: Angie Merkel remains chancellor.
Here is what the world is saying:
Angela Merkel has been re-elected for another term as Germany's chancellor. SPIEGEL ONLINE has gathered reactions from some of the country's key allies on what a second term will mean for Germany and the rest of the world.
United States President Barack Obama has congratulated German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her victory in Sunday's national elections. A White House statement on the leaders' telephone conversation says that the two agreed that "with the election of a strong German government, our cooperation will further strengthen and deepen."
"The United States and Germany are close allies and partner together around the world to promote freedom, security and prosperity," the statement added.
Washington had already presumed that Merkel would win. When she visited the White House in June, three months before the election, Obama had whispered to her: "Oh, you've already won. I don't know why you're always worrying." The clear election prediction -- rare for a US president -- was caught on camera by the German public broadcaster ZDF. (At the time, Merkel's main challenger, Social Democratic candidate Frank-Walter Steinmeier, responded that Obama was "not a prophet.")
Russ Carnahan, a third-term member of the US House of Representatives with the Democratic Party from Missouri and the chairman of the Congressional Study Group on Germany, told SPIEGEL ONLINE: "I would like to congratulate the German people who sent a strong signal to their leaders of the direction they wish to see their nation going. Chancellor Merkel has been a strong partner in helping to stabilize Afghanistan, foster peace between Israel and the Palestinians, guard against Iran securing a nuclear weapon and promote an economically and politically stable Russia. I strongly believe we can continue working together on these important issues facing both our nations."
The Importance of Merkel's Calm Presence
Robert Kimmitt, who served as the US ambassador to Germany between 1991 and 1993 before going on to become a deputy secretary of the Treasury during the second administration of George W. Bush, told SPIEGEL ONLINE what he hopes will be on Merkel's agenda for her second term. "I congratulate my friend of almost 20 years, Chancellor Angela Merkel, on her party's results," he said. "As she begins the important task of forming her new government and preparing its coalition agreement, domestic affairs, quite understandably, will have the priority. But, recognizing Germany's central role in Europe, the trans-Atlantic alliance, and the world more broadly, I hope that the new government will shape an agenda that also allows Germany to discharge its crucial global responsibilities, not only on foreign and defense matters, but also on the economic and financial challenges identified at the recent G-20 Summit. One specific way to help achieve this result is to reinvigorate the Trans-Atlantic Economic Council (TEC) begun under Chancellor Merkel's leadership during Germany's European Union presidency in 2007. This council commits the important economies on both sides of the Atlantic to remove or lower barriers to the free flow of goods, services and capital in what is still the world's most vibrant market."
Charles Maier, a history professor at Harvard University and one of America's leading experts on postwar Germany, told SPIEGEL ONLINE: "This election wasn't about choosing between right and left. A majority of German voters, including a lot of rather elderly individuals, were looking for the safe policies embodied by Angela Merkel's calm presence. Voters who wanted more vision and change were in the minority and were divided among the Left Party, the Greens and the SPD. This division was disastrous for the SPD, and it didn't leave any room for two main political parties. Now the SPD is teetering on dissolution. It was also wrong for the party to simply chase after the Left Party; it needs to have its own issues."
The Washington Post called the grand coalition -- which has seen Merkel's CDU rule with the Social Democrats as a junior partner for the last four years -- "awkward," and said that the "pro-business" Free Democratic Party (FDP) -- whose leader, Guido Westerwelle, is expected to become Germany's next foreign minister -- has "traditionally supported a close economic and political partnership with the United States."
The New York Times was much more ambivalent about Merkel's victory. "Mrs. Merkel's victory could nonetheless leave her political standing weaker in the long run because her party ... had its worst results in 60 years," the paper wrote. Quoting unnamed analysts, the paper goes on to say that "by basing the short and lackluster election campaign primarily on her own personal appeal ... Merkel appears to have further weakened her party base."
Full and longer article here:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,651837,00.html
So I will deliver the news then: Angie Merkel remains chancellor.
Here is what the world is saying:
Angela Merkel has been re-elected for another term as Germany's chancellor. SPIEGEL ONLINE has gathered reactions from some of the country's key allies on what a second term will mean for Germany and the rest of the world.
United States President Barack Obama has congratulated German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her victory in Sunday's national elections. A White House statement on the leaders' telephone conversation says that the two agreed that "with the election of a strong German government, our cooperation will further strengthen and deepen."
"The United States and Germany are close allies and partner together around the world to promote freedom, security and prosperity," the statement added.
Washington had already presumed that Merkel would win. When she visited the White House in June, three months before the election, Obama had whispered to her: "Oh, you've already won. I don't know why you're always worrying." The clear election prediction -- rare for a US president -- was caught on camera by the German public broadcaster ZDF. (At the time, Merkel's main challenger, Social Democratic candidate Frank-Walter Steinmeier, responded that Obama was "not a prophet.")
Russ Carnahan, a third-term member of the US House of Representatives with the Democratic Party from Missouri and the chairman of the Congressional Study Group on Germany, told SPIEGEL ONLINE: "I would like to congratulate the German people who sent a strong signal to their leaders of the direction they wish to see their nation going. Chancellor Merkel has been a strong partner in helping to stabilize Afghanistan, foster peace between Israel and the Palestinians, guard against Iran securing a nuclear weapon and promote an economically and politically stable Russia. I strongly believe we can continue working together on these important issues facing both our nations."
The Importance of Merkel's Calm Presence
Robert Kimmitt, who served as the US ambassador to Germany between 1991 and 1993 before going on to become a deputy secretary of the Treasury during the second administration of George W. Bush, told SPIEGEL ONLINE what he hopes will be on Merkel's agenda for her second term. "I congratulate my friend of almost 20 years, Chancellor Angela Merkel, on her party's results," he said. "As she begins the important task of forming her new government and preparing its coalition agreement, domestic affairs, quite understandably, will have the priority. But, recognizing Germany's central role in Europe, the trans-Atlantic alliance, and the world more broadly, I hope that the new government will shape an agenda that also allows Germany to discharge its crucial global responsibilities, not only on foreign and defense matters, but also on the economic and financial challenges identified at the recent G-20 Summit. One specific way to help achieve this result is to reinvigorate the Trans-Atlantic Economic Council (TEC) begun under Chancellor Merkel's leadership during Germany's European Union presidency in 2007. This council commits the important economies on both sides of the Atlantic to remove or lower barriers to the free flow of goods, services and capital in what is still the world's most vibrant market."
Charles Maier, a history professor at Harvard University and one of America's leading experts on postwar Germany, told SPIEGEL ONLINE: "This election wasn't about choosing between right and left. A majority of German voters, including a lot of rather elderly individuals, were looking for the safe policies embodied by Angela Merkel's calm presence. Voters who wanted more vision and change were in the minority and were divided among the Left Party, the Greens and the SPD. This division was disastrous for the SPD, and it didn't leave any room for two main political parties. Now the SPD is teetering on dissolution. It was also wrong for the party to simply chase after the Left Party; it needs to have its own issues."
The Washington Post called the grand coalition -- which has seen Merkel's CDU rule with the Social Democrats as a junior partner for the last four years -- "awkward," and said that the "pro-business" Free Democratic Party (FDP) -- whose leader, Guido Westerwelle, is expected to become Germany's next foreign minister -- has "traditionally supported a close economic and political partnership with the United States."
The New York Times was much more ambivalent about Merkel's victory. "Mrs. Merkel's victory could nonetheless leave her political standing weaker in the long run because her party ... had its worst results in 60 years," the paper wrote. Quoting unnamed analysts, the paper goes on to say that "by basing the short and lackluster election campaign primarily on her own personal appeal ... Merkel appears to have further weakened her party base."
Full and longer article here:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,651837,00.html