German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reacted to the stunning election defeat over the weekend admitting that her own migrant policies were to blame.
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The beleaguered Chancellor, who is dropping in popularity daily in opinion polls, admitted that it was indeed her own mass migration policies that had led to the anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany party (AfD) relegating the CDU to third place in Ms. Merkel’s home state, reports Die Welt.
She added that there is much to be done about the refugees, including the repatriation of those denied asylum in her country.
Merkel said she was “deeply dissatisfied with the outcome of the election”, but pledged to “win back trust” of voters. The AfD, which campaigned hard before elections against Merkel’s so-called open-door policy in dealing with refugees, won 21 percent in their first election in the state.
Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, the leader of Social Democratic Party (SPD), also pointed to his party’s increasing distance from Merkel accusing the chancellor and her party of being too slow to respond to the refugee crisis.
He said he did not believe Germany’s federal government policies toward refugees would change even in light of the CDU’s loss in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The center-left Social Democrats are Merkel’s partners in Germany’s national government.
“Therefore, yesterday’s results are obviously not representative but they definitely are symbolic for Chancellor Merkel and the entire German landscape”.
He added that since past year, when Merkel gave her famous promise that Germany would cope with the migrant inflow – which stood at one million in 2015 – the country faced numerous problems caused by the chancellor’s welcoming stance toward refugees.
“The situation is highly threatening for the CDU-CSU, and people don’t want the Berlin policy, it’s not worth the stress”.
With the party’s latest electoral success, the AfD will hold seats in nine out of Germany’s 16 regional parliaments, and is projected for impressive gains in Berlin upon September 18 elections.
“In the capital, the strength of the AfD could force the CDU out of the grand coalition with the SPD”, Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at risk consultancy Teneo Intelligence, said in a note Sunday.
“This is a slap in the face for Merkel – not only in Berlin but also in her home stat. The question is whether she still has her party behind her”.
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