According to poll
Half of Germans think Merkel should resign
Almost half of Germans think Angela Merkel should soon resign as chancellor. This is apparent from a poll published on Saturday (December 30, 2017) by the newspaper Die Welt, reports Business Insider.
According to the survey, 46% believe that the Christian Democrat should resign as soon as possible and 17% believe that the Chancellor should make that decision once talks with the Social Democratic SPD about the formation of a coalition fail.
Some 8% say they must leave parliament no later than halfway through the current term of office. Only 1 in 10 respondents want Merkel not to step down at all.
Merkel has mainly spoiled it with supporters of the anti-immigration party AfD. According to the poll of Die Welt, 87% of AfD voters think Merkel should resign as soon as possible. 5.120 people participated in the study.
Forming a new coalition
About 3 months after the elections, Germany still has no new government. The Christian and Social Democrats have ruled together for the past 4 years, but on 24 September 2017 they were the big losers in the parliamentary elections. Together they lost 13,7 percentage points, while the minor parties won.
Now, due to a lack of alternatives, a new edition of the 'GroKo' is emerging. Talks between CDU/CSU, FDP and Greens (to form a so-called Jamaica (black-yellow-green) coalition) had failed in November. On January 7, they begin exploratory talks on the formation of a new German government.
Merkel has been Chancellor for 12 years
Merkel has been Chancellor since November 22, 2005. She has led the CDU since 2000. Born on July 17, 1954 in Hamburg, the minister's daughter grew up in Templin in the former (Communist) GDR. She studied physics in Leipzig and worked as a research assistant in East Berlin, where she specialized in quantum chemistry.
After German reunification in October 1990, Merkel made her career as a protege of then CDU chancellor Helmut Kohl. In 1991 she was given her first ministerial post, that of Women's and Youth Affairs.
In the next term of government (1994-1998), Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety were in its portfolio. It is said that it was especially on this last post that she made an impression on friend and foe alike as a professional.
First female chancellor
After Kohl (after the electoral defeat of CDU/CSU and FDP in 1998) had become discredited, the now seasoned politician dropped him at the end of 1999. As secretary general of the CDU, she forced Kohl to open up. Merkel became party leader in April 2000.
In 2005, Merkel became her party's undisputed chancellor candidate in the elections. Despite a disappointing result, the CDU/CSU became the largest party and formed a 'grand' coalition with the SPD. Merkel thus became the first female, the first East German and the youngest-ever Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic.
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