Angela Merkel was granted a fresh term as leader of Germany’s main conservative party, the CDU, which puts her in line for a fourth term as chancellor. The next election is going to be harder than 2013 as the chancellor’s refugee policy appears to have backfired. The victory of Donald Trump in the US on a populist platform, the reality of Brexit sinking in and the resignation of Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi after losing a referendum for constitutional reform have put pressure on Merkel to counter populism. She has rightly warned the people not to fall prey to easy answers to pressing problems faced by Germany, but her open-door policy which allowed nearly a million refugees to pour in has dented her image as a leader. US President Barack Obama might have christened her as the new leader of the liberal world, but back home she has decided to unveil a tougher immigration policy to quell resentment. Her call for a ban on the burka where ever it is legally possible is an attempt to steer her party towards the right in order to counter the new Alternative for Germany party which is feeding on Merkel’s failed refugee policy. The irony is she might have to become more like Trump in order to win.
Another fire under European Union
bio: Marco Goldoni is Senior Lecturer, Law, University of Glasgow. This story first appeared on the Conversation.com**How to interpret the outcome of the Italian referendum? Matteo Renzi’s government is clearly the loser “ and the prime minister announced his widely expected resignation as soon as the result was in.The proposed constitutional reform would have given much more power to Renzi by taking it away from the Italian Senate. It was part of a wider package of…
