Horst Koehler, personal envoy of the United Nations Secretary General to the parties to the Western Sahara conflict, arrives for a round table on Western Sahara at the European Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday 05 December. 2018.
Trézzini Martial / Keystone / AP
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Trézzini Martial / Keystone / AP
Berlin – Horst Köhler, leader of the International Monetary Fund who became a popular German president before stunning the country by suddenly swiring in a component on comments on the country’s army, died. He was 81 years old.
Köhler, head of state from 2004 to 2010, died on Saturday morning in Berlin after a short illness, surrounded by his family, said the office of the current German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a statement.
Köhler was little known to most Germans and a foreigner in front line policy before winning the presidency. His appointment was welcomed by the daily Bild mass circulation daily with the title “Horst who?”
However, he has accumulated popularity ratings high in work, which he did partly by positioning himself as a stranger to the country’s political elite.
He sometimes refused to sign the bills due to constitutional concerns and did not always go popular to the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, of which he was the choice for the presidency – a largely ceremonial work but often considered as A source of moral authority.
Köhler was elected before the arrival of Merkel’s power, at a time when Germany had trouble reconciling with the labor market reforms and the cuts of the welfare state. He said that the Germans should not rest on past achievements and said that he was “deeply convinced of Germany has the strength of change”.
In July 2005, Köhler agreed to dissolve the Parliament and to support the Chancellor of the time, Gerhard Schröder, an unusual early election. He said Germany faced “giant challenges” and that “our future and the future of our children are at stake”.
Merkel won power, but almost exploded a huge survey lead after his more in -depth reform speech has disabled voters. Köhler has also talked less about economic changes in recent years and has strongly criticized the financial markets during the banking and economic crisis – describing them as a “monster” which had not yet been learned.
In the midst of criticisms that he seemed to have little to say after winning a second term, Köhler resigned dramatically abruptly on May 31, 2010. He quoted criticism on a radio interview he gave after a visit to the troops German in Afghanistan.
In this dissemination, he said that for a country with the dependence of Germany with regard to exports, military deployments could be “necessary … in order to defend our interests, for example the free trade roads” .
This was considered by many with regard to the German unpopular mission in Afghanistan, although his office said later that he was referring to anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia.
Many wondered if that was the real reason for Koehler’s resignation to the sometimes thin skin, with speculating criticism that he was simply fed up with a lack of support from Merkel – for whom his resignation was embarrassment.
In foreign policy, Köhler was rented for trying to draw attention to the needs of Africa. He became the second German president to speak to the Parliament of Israel, saying to the Knesset: “I include the head of shame and humility before the victims” of the Holocaust.
Köhler has also paid attention to relations with eastern neighbor Poland, making it the first foreign destination for its two terms and saying that he would like the country to become such an important partner for Germany as France.
Köhler, son of German ethnic farmers in Romania, was born on February 22, 1943 in Skierbieszow, in Poland occupied by the Nazis. His family fled to Germany after the war – first in Leipzig in what became a communist in East Germany, then in West Germany in 1954.
Before going up to the presidency, Köhler had a long record as effective behind the scenes.
From the early 1980s, he worked for more than a decade in the Ministry of Finance under Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who once called him “a treasure” and relied on him in economic diplomacy.
He helped write the legal framework for the single currency of Europe, the euro, and played a role in the negotiation of German reunification in 1990.
He was then president of the European Bank for reconstruction and development.
In 2000, Köhler became Schröder’s backup choice for the management of the IMF. He won American support after the first candidate in Berlin, the Deputy Minister of Finance Caio Koch-Weser, was rejected by the United States as too light.
US Treasury Secretary John Snow, then congratulated Köhler’s mandate, claiming that “he transformed the institution in terms of transparency … and worked to develop better crisis prevention tools and management of more efficient crisis “.
Merkel, then head of the German opposition, brought him back to Germany as his surprise choice for the presidency four years later, guaranteeing his election by a parliamentary assembly.
In a letter of condolences to the wife of Köhler, Eva Louise, President Steinmeier wrote on Saturday that “many people in our country will cry with you. Because in Horst Köhler, we have lost a very esteemed and extremely popular person who has Made of great things – for our country and in the world.
“It was above all his approval, his contagious laughter and his optimism, his belief in the strength of our country and to the energy and the creativity of its inhabitants who earned him so many hearts. But it was also his often Clear and in no case always comfortable warnings and speeches that have earned him recognition, “wrote Steinmeier.
Köhler is survived by his wife, his daughter Ulrike and his son Jochen.
