Germany's Social Democrats say Merkel not unbeatable after announcement she will seek fourth term

Record ID: 77791

  • Title: Germany's Social Democrats say Merkel not unbeatable after announcement she will seek fourth term
  • Date: 21st November 2016
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (German) PASSER-BY, MARTIN FLOSS, SAYING: "Ultimately (it's) good. She has made one big mistake, the same one that Helmut Kohl made: she didn't nurture a successor. So I think it's important for her to carry on now, because you have to do that in advance. And the other thing is of course her experience, given the difficult situation we are in, the uncertainty in the USA. She brings continuity and people want that to a certain extent. Whether a majority of people vote for that, we'll have to wait and see." (SOUNDBITE) (German) PASSER-BY, ROLAND WENEKERS, SAYING: "I'm ambivalent about it. It's good because she represents a force for stability in the western world, but on the other hand I've been unhappy for a while that she doesn't really bring in any new ideas for German politics or foreign policy." (SOUNDBITE) (German) PASSER-BY, WOLFGANG MUTTER , SAYING: "It's simply a difficult situation at the moment and I think she does well because she doesn't take any hasty decisions, but rather reflects on things, weights them up and then takes decisions in a calm way." (SOUNDBITE) (German) PASSER-BY, JUAN CHRISTENSEN, SAYING: "I find Merkel basically good. Of course there are challenges, but then she needs to work with other people to solve them. At the moment I don't really see any alternatives."
  • Embargoed: 6th December 2016 13:13
  • Keywords: Angela Merkel chancellor fourth term reaction Thomas Oppermann
  • Location: BERLIN & MUNICH, GERMANY
  • City: BERLIN & MUNICH, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00359DZWHZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is not unbeatable in next year's election, the parliamentary leader of her coalition partner the Social Democrats said on Monday (November 21).
    Thomas Oppermann said nobody was surprised when Merkel announced her decision to seek a fourth term as chancellor on Sunday evening (November 20), and that now the SPD's focus would be on the election campaign.
    "I am looking forward to an exciting contest. The election next year is completely open and Mrs Merkel is no longer unbeatable," Oppermann said in Berlin.
    Merkel will campaign for next September's election in an increasingly fractured political landscape, in which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is likely to enter the national parliament for the first time next year.
    Her likely coalition partners are Oppermann's SPD, who are some 10 points behind her conservatives and with whom she now rules. But the AfD's rise makes coalition building more complicated.
    Oppermann said the SPD would not allow "right-wing populists" to set the tone of the election campaign.
    "We will not adopt their offensive language and lack of respect in the election campaign, but we will be speaking clearly, that is certain," he said, adding that the SPD would announce their candidate for chancellor at the appropriate time.
    On the streets of Munich, reactions to the news of Merkel's candidacy were mixed.
    Passer-by Martin Floss said it was good for Merkel to continue because no suitable successor was waiting to fill her shoes.
    "And the other thing is of course her experience, given the difficult situation we are in, the uncertainty in the USA. She brings continuity and people want that to a certain extent," he told Reuters.
    But Roland Wenekers was more ambivalent.
    "It's good because she represents a force for stability in the western world, but on the other hand I've been unhappy for a while that she doesn't really bring in any new ideas for German politics or foreign policy," he said.
    The 62-year-old conservative is widely seen as a stabilising force in Europe amid uncertainty after Britain's vote to leave the European Union and as a bastion of Western liberal values after the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president.
    She has already served 11 years as chancellor of Europe's biggest economy.
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