I know she got unpopular at the end. Maybe 18 years as a party leader and 13 as head of a government (with a bit more to go on that front) is just too long. But Germany, Europe and the world will miss her when she is gone.
Her party is unpopular because of her. If she hadnt stepped down the following weekend they would have pulled an Ides of November
Merkel, who was nearing the end of her third term, confided that she reluctantly felt that she had to run again, in order to be a buffer against Trump, Brexit, and the surge of right-wing populism throughout Europe. Obama urged her to do so. “Obama was obsessed with the fate of Europe during his last year in office,” Charles Kupchan, who served as Obama’s top National Security Council adviser on European affairs and accompanied him on the trip, told me. After the election, the situation seemed even more urgent. “His view was that Merkel was needed to keep Europe together,” Kupchan said. “He was afraid that, without Merkel, Humpty Dumpty was going to fall off the wall.” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/12/24/how-trump-made-war-on-angela-merkel-and-europe
Openness, tolerance and respect. These values have made our country strong. We must stand up for them together – even when it is uncomfortable and arduous. - Chancellor #Merkel in her New Year’s address: pic.twitter.com/Va32ePn5uu— Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecherStS) December 31, 2018
Bump. Merkel has been "as good as done" through how many British PMs? Did her successor ever take over?
LOL! Last week the President of Germany visited my workplace. There was a lot of buzz, and some people were thinking of the "President" title in the American sense, and thought of Angela Merkel. Actually, it was Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a guy I had never heard of until I googled him that day. A German guy said that it was more of a "ceremonial" title, and that he doesn't really do anything as far as setting policy to run the country or anything. Someone asked, "Oh, so he's like the Queen of England?" Alas, he didn't wave like the Queen.
Considering the alternative leaders among the democratic nations I say find whatever Justice Ginsburg is eating and give it to Merkel.
Well she outlasted her would be replacement. https://www.economist.com/europe/20...rrenbauers-resignation-upends-german-politics