About time.
From Daily Mail: Merkel’s premiership is hanging by a thread today as thousands gathered to call for her resignation while a key political ally dramatically withdrew his support over immigration policy.
More than 5,000 protested in Berlin and thousands more throughout Germany over the ‘open-door’ policy that many have blamed for four brutal terrorist attacks that left 13 dead over the last month. The Chancellor faced a fresh wave of fury after it emerged that two recent terror attacks and a third killing were carried out by men who entered the country as refugees.
Despite the massive waves of criticism, Merkel defended her policy this week, dramatically proclaiming ‘we can do it’ as she pledged not to let the violent acts guide political decisions.
But now her key ally in Bavaria – which bore the brunt of the attacks – has launched a fresh attack on her leadership, distancing his party from Merkel and straining the coalition that keeps her in power.
Horst Seehofer, the conservative premier of Bavaria, said he did not share Merkel’s ‘we can do it’ credo on accommodating the almost 1.1 million migrants and refugees who arrived in 2015. Seehofer, who leads the Christian Social Union, the sister party to Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats, said today ‘”We can do this” – I cannot, with the best will, adopt this phrase as my own.’
Speaking after a meeting with the Bavarian government in Tegernsee, he added that the solutions to date were ‘too inadequate.’ Stressing he had no wish to start a quarrel with Merkel’s party, Seehofer said it was important to look ‘reality’ in the face.
An axe rampage, a shooting spree, a knife attack and a suicide bombing in the span of a week stunned Germany, leaving 13 people dead, including three assailants, and dozens wounded. Three of the four attackers were asylum seekers, and two of the assaults were claimed by the Islamic State group.
‘Merkel must go’ has been trending on social media, with people posting powerful pictures including one claiming that she has blood on her hands after recent attacks. The picture shows her splattered with blood, while another depicts her wearing a Burka.
A new survey found that 83 per cent of Germans see immigration as their nation’s biggest challenge – twice as many as a year ago.
Recent attacks have fueled the right-wing right-minded movement, which has long called for stricter immigration controls, particularly in Bavaria, where she faces heavy criticism from high-profile politicians. Yesterday, thousands of protesters calling for her to step down also met counter-protests from the anti-right-wing movement, in Germany – which is still in a state of high alert.
But in a powerful speech on Thursday, Merkel said that she would not allow jihadists to keep her government from being guided by reason and compassion. ‘Despite the great unease these events inspire, fear can’t be the guide for political decisions,’ she said. ‘It is my deep conviction that we cannot let our way of life be destroyed,’ she added.
After the Bavaria attacks, Seehofer initially called into question the principle that asylum seekers should never be sent back to war zones. He later backtracked, citing international law. However, he insisted previously: ‘We must seriously consider how such people should be treated if they violate the law or can be considered a danger.’
Read the whole story here.
DCG
