Deutsche Welle reports the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), is unhappy about Angela Merkel’s refugee policies.
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Merkels Christian Democratic Union finished third in the election for Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranias state legislature, behind the three-year-old Alternative for Germany, or AfD.
The official results, released early Monday, underscored the tough road ahead for Merkel as she weighs whether to make a fourth bid to lead Germany in national elections next year.
Although Merkel’s open-door policy and leadership at the height of Europe’s migrant crisis attracted praise from some quarters, there is growing disquiet with the policy in Germany’s public and political sphere – including within Merkel’s own governing “grand coalition” made up of the CDU, Christian Social Union (CSU) and SPD, which is a junior partner in the governing alliance.
HANGZHOU, China German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that G20 countries are working on rules to improve conditions for investment in Africa and added she believed it was urgent for more direct foreign investment to flow to the continent. The Chancellor affirmed that the European Union (EU) migrant deal with Turkey was a step in the right direction toward tackling the migrant crisis. But she says there’s work to do to win back people’s confidence, particularly in integrating refugees and in ensuring that migrants who don’t qualify for asylum are sent home.
“So far, Merkel has declined to commit to standing again for the role of chancellor in next year’s general election …”
The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party clinched nearly 21 percent in its first bid for seats in the regional parliament of the north-eastern ex-Communist state on Sunday, coming second and knocking Merkel’s party into third place with just 19 percent.
The AfD has been opposing the bill since the Alternative for Germany party’s inception three years ago.
Mecklenburg is home to few foreigners, but Merkel acknowledged that migrant policy was a dominant theme.
She added that there is much to be done about the refugees, including the repatriation of those denied asylum in her country.
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Apparently it is not clear to many voters, or they accept this, that AfD doesnt distance itself clearly from the far-right spectrum either in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania or nationally.. Leader Frauke Petry attacked Merkels party for saying that they havent done anything wrong. “Those who voted for the AfD were sending a message of protest”.
