Sunday, December 5th, 2021
Seehofer on Merkel
An “exceptional political athlete”
For a long time, the relationship between Horst Seehofer and Angela Merkel was anything but cordial, but the Chancellor can only say goodbye to the former CSU boss. The former Vice Chancellor Gabriel is also enthusiastic about the personal approach.
Angela Merkel’s long-time companions and adversaries Wolfgang Schäuble and Horst Seehofer recognized the outgoing Chancellor as an outstanding politician and a stroke of luck for Germany. “She was lucky for our country,” wrote the resigning President of the Bundestag Schäuble in a guest post for “Bild am Sonntag”.
Interior Minister Seehofer called her an “exceptional political athlete” and wrote: “She has led her office with unbelievable precision and tenacity. In 50 years of politics I have hardly met anyone of her stature,” said the former CSU chairman, who is in the In the wake of the refugee crisis in 2015 with Merkel, he had temporarily overthrown.
Schäuble, who was Minister of the Interior and Finance under her, explicitly praised the “analytical skills with which she recognized social changes and moods earlier than others, not only in my party”: “In doing so, she changed our country in many ways Sovereignty, “he wrote. As “perhaps the most important personal merit” he called Merkel’s “balanced political style, which also ensured trust and confidence in our country among neighbors and partners”.
Gabriel: Merkel could be “freezing cold”
The former SPD leader and Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told the editorial network Germany that in a time of many crises the country had remained stable under Merkel’s 16-year chancellorship. “This is a great achievement for this Chancellor, who has written a positive piece of German history with it.” With a view to Merkel’s decisions on nuclear power, conscription and refugees, Gabriel said that under Merkel “a lot of things happened that traditional Union voters would never have expected”.
As the head of the SPD at the time, he too was surprised at Merkel’s agility in some cases. In 2012 she responded astonishingly to the proposal to make Joachim Gauck Federal President: “This Chancellor could be freezing if she wanted.” Gabriel was enthusiastic about Merkel’s personal approach: “She is a fine person,” he said. “Merkel not only acted cooperatively, she was really collegial, in an almost conspiratorial manner,” said Gabriel. With a view to climate policy, she said to him: “Now let’s do a few things that Helmut Kohl didn’t allow me to do back then in Bonn.”
According to a representative survey by the Insa Institute for “Bild am Sonntag”, the majority of citizens are also satisfied with Merkel’s work. Around 60 percent of the 1004 respondents judged that Merkel had done her job as Chancellor well. 30 percent think she does bad work. 47 percent said they would miss Merkel.