Merz becomes Chancellor after a minor hiccup

Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democrats, which had won the election edging past the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), and forged an alliance with the Social Democrats because he did not have enough numbers on his own, faced a minor setback when he did not get the required number of votes from the allies.

It was the first time that a Chancellor-designate failed to get through the formality of a formal election in the Bundestag, the lower house of German parliament. But he got it through a second time, which was part of the procedure. There was speculation, both after the first round when he failed to get through and after the second round when he got through that the two mainstream allies were not on the same page, and that there were some chinks in the armour.

This was not the first time that the two major ideological rivals had to work together. It had happened in the long-serving Chancellor of the Christian Democrats, Angela Merkel. But she was seen as the political leader who could manage to keep the two parties with differing ideologies for the good of Germany.

The coalition of the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats under Merkel turned Germany into the workhorse of the European Union (EU) economy even as the other EU members went through their economic and political convulsions. The present coalition of the two parties is expected to do the same and more.

The major challenge is to contain the rising popularity of the right-wing extremist group of AfD. When the government agency declared the AfD as a right-wing extremist organization there was an outcry, not just from members and supporters of AfD, but also from the right-wing-leaning American billionaire and President Donald Trump’s confidante, Elon Musk. The American plutocrat has been a vocal supporter and friend of AfD.

The challenge before Merz is quite formidable. It is to turn around the German economy so that it can resume the role of the anchor of the European economy. It is a task easier said than done. It would require both calibration and tactful handling at the political and diplomatic levels. With America’s President Trump taking a hostile position through his tariff policy and through his adversarial stance with regard to NATO, it would need a determined Merz to make Germany the centrepiece of the new European order without any significant role for the Americans.

It is not an easy job. The Americans have played a pivotal role in the unity and stability of Europe. Trump might finally come round to the old idea of the trans-Atlantic alliance of liberal democracies, it would need determined resistance from Germany, France and others.

It does seem that French President Emmanuel Macron is willing to stand up to the Americans. Macron would be continuing the French tradition of following an independent line from the times of post-Second World War French hero Charles de Gaulle.

It is different in the case of Germany. It is because of history. Germany had been the guilty country of the two World Wars, and especially so after the Second. So, it had to strike a more conciliatory tone through most of the second half of the last century.

And after the German reunion after the collapse of communism at the end of the 1980s, Germany had to assuage the apprehensions of its neighbours and allies that a united Germany does not challenge European peace. Merkel had assured that Germany was a force for good in Europe. Merz has to carry forward the Merkel torch of peace and progress. Hence, the German opposition to Russia and its support for Ukraine.