Local Opinion: Chancellor Merkel Resigns From Party Leadership

  • 31 Oct 2018 10:05 PM
  • BudaPost
Local Opinion: Chancellor Merkel Resigns From Party Leadership
Pundits right across the political spectrum discuss the broader implications of Angela Merkel’s decision to step down from the leadership of the CDU.

Angela Merkel got her dues, Zsolt Bayer comments in Magyar Idők. The pro-government pundit accuses Chancellor Merkel of exchanging conservative ideology for mainstream liberal rhetoric.

Bayer mentions as Merkel’s biggest blunder the embrace of a liberal immigration policy which he claims aims at to transform the demographic composition of Europe.

This strategy seemed to work for a while, but in the end, even what Bayer calls the ‘brainwashed German nation’ which suffers from the memory of an ‘artificially created sense of guilt’ since World War Two revolted against Merkel’s ‘Wilkommenskultur.’

Thus, the centrist CDU lost ‘stupid liberals and anarchists’ as well as ‘sane silent majorities that chose normality and voted for the AfD’. Bayer concludes by expressing hope that Chancellor Merkel’s fate will soon also catch up with President Macron.

Magyar Hírlap’s Mariann Őry thinks that Merkel’s decision to step down as party leader creates an opportunity for the CDU to renew itself.

The pro-government columnist points out that Chancellor Merkel will have a say in the succession in the CDU. As for the broader implications, Őry suspects that Chancellor Merkel will no longer be an important player at the European level.

In Népszava, Tamás Rónay suspects that Angela Merkel’s resignation marks the end of an era.

The left-wing columnist praises Chancellor Merkel for her courage in stepping down and acknowledging failure. Rónay is however also confident that the CDU will follow Angela Merkel’s politics in the future.

But he finds it sad that German politics have become so unpredictable amidst of the rise of populists all over Europe.

This opinion does not necessarily represent the views of XpatLoop.com or the publisher. Your opinions are welcome too - for editorial review before possible publication online Click here to Share Your Story 

MTI Photo

  • How does this content make you feel?

XpatLoop Media Partner

BudaPost

Launched in May 2011 to provide a balanced picture of matters covered in Hungary’s national press. Their aim is to make it easier for English-speakers to understand where this country is now and where it’s heading according to the full spectrum of media opinions.

Explore More Reports

  • Orbán: NATO Membership ‘Vital to Hungary’

    Orbán: NATO Membership ‘Vital to Hungary’

    • 20 Feb 2023 11:18 AM

    Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in his keynote speech that NATO membership was vital to Hungary, arguing that the country was located “too far on the eastern edge of the Western world” to abandon the alliance.

  • Western Strategy in Ukraine Backfired, Claims Orbán

    Western Strategy in Ukraine Backfired, Claims Orbán

    • 25 Jul 2022 11:23 AM

    Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told the “Tusványos” Summer University in Băile Tușnad (Tusnádfürdő), Romania, that Russia had made it clear that it wanted it guaranteed that Ukraine would never join NATO, insisting that the war would not have broken out “if Donald Trump were the US president and Angela Merkel the German chancellor”.