BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats will gather Monday in Stuttgart for their annual party congress. It will be far from a set-piece conference. Merkel, after years of uncontested success, is facing massive pressure not only from other countries, but from within her own party, to beef up the German government's response to the financial crisis. She will have to give an outstanding speech to retain her reputation as a disciplined, calculating and determined leader. "The speech is everything," said Philipp Missfelder, chairman of the Christian Democrats' young conservatives. "It does not matter what the stock markets do that day. What matters is that Merkel delivers a speech that gives Germans a perspective. The party needs it, and so does the public." The speech Monday has become so important because Merkel has publicly shown little leadership during a crisis that seems to be turning more serious by the day. While often fiercely critical of plans by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and other EU leaders for protecting Europe against the meltdown, she has come up with no alternative. "Madame Non," the Parisian daily Les Echos dubbed her.
BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats will gather Monday in Stuttgart for their annual party congress. It will be far from a set-piece conference.
Merkel, after years of uncontested success, is facing massive pressure not only from other countries, but from within her own party, to beef up the German government's response to the financial crisis. She will have to give an outstanding speech to retain her reputation as a disciplined, calculating and determined leader.
"The speech is everything," said Philipp Missfelder, chairman of the Christian Democrats' young conservatives. "It does not matter what the stock markets do that day. What matters is that Merkel delivers a speech that gives Germans a perspective. The party needs it, and so does the public."
The speech Monday has become so important because Merkel has publicly shown little leadership during a crisis that seems to be turning more serious by the day. While often fiercely critical of plans by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and other EU leaders for protecting Europe against the meltdown, she has come up with no alternative. "Madame Non," the Parisian daily Les Echos dubbed her.
Merkel has publicly shown little leadership
The IHT fails to recognize the Kohlian paradigm of government: let your subordinates burn their political capital so you don't have to.
Granted it may well fail in the current instance, but it's generally a pretty effective way to remain in control of (if not "run") a coalition. The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman
