Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized her own party leader for adopting a motion in Parliament with the support of the extreme right alternative for Germany (AFD).
In a statement, Merkel accused the chief of the CDU Friedrich Merz of having turned his back on a previous commitment not to work with AFD in the Bundestag.
Parliament went down Wednesday in the chahos After the votes of the far -right party, a motion of the non -binding CDU on the stricter immigration rules was adopted.
It is a very unusual intervention by the woman who led Germany for 16 years, working to criticize the actions of her former political rival.
Merz, who should be the next Chancellor of Germany due to the example of the CDU in the polls, said on Wednesday that a policy was not wrong simply because “bad people support it” and that He had not sought or wanted the support of AFD.
But Merkel accused him of having broken a commitment he made in November to work with the Social Democratic Party and the Greens to adopt legislation, not on AFD.
It was to guarantee that “neither to determine the agenda nor to vote on the question here in the House, there will be a random or really of the majority with those of AFD”. Read a Merz quote in the Merkel declaration.
The former chancellor said that she fully supported this “political expression of great political responsibility”.
“I think it is bad to no longer feel bound by this proposal and knowingly allow AFD to win a majority during a vote in the German Bundestag on January 29, 2025 for the first time.”
She said that “all the Democratic parties” had to work together “to do everything they could to prevent as terrible attacks in the future as those that took place shortly before Christmas in Magdeburg and a few days ago Aschaffenburg “.
It is a rare intervention by Merkel.
Openly criticizing the candidate for his own party for the Chancellor – a few weeks from an election – is a big decision and will add fuel to a rocket to an already explosive history in German politics.
Merkel and Merz go up a long way – and not like the best of friends.
He was famous line by Merkel in the early 2000s after winning in a CDU power struggle.
Merz was going to leave the front line policy for many years before returning.
Since then, he has criticized Merkel’s inheritance – in particular his management of the migration crisis.
They also have very different visions for the party, with Merkel considered as a more pragmatic centrist and Merz of the more traditional and conservative wing of the CDU.
Wednesday’s vote has broken a longtime taboo in German policy – and Merz should also offer legislation on Friday that AFD could support.
The current German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, described The Move as “unforgivable error”.
“Since the Foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany over 75 years ago, there has always been a clear consensus among all the Democrats of our parliaments: we do not make common causes with the extreme right,” -Ali said.
