German elections on Sunday This will conclude the last term of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
When Merkel stepped down After running the country for 16 years, how will history write her story?
We asked four experts to evaluate her leadership style. and past works
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Angela Merkel is about to step down. After running the country for 16 years
What are Merkel’s main contributions as Prime Minister?
Matt Quatrup, professor of political science at Coventry University. and author of Angela Merkel: Europe’s Most Influential Leader She said she turned German politics into a discussion of policy instead of politics.
German politics used to be driven by men. But under Mrs Merkel’s leadership, things have changed. and more focus on policy
Mrs. Merkel was trained as a physicist. And she has a PhD in quantum chemistry. She therefore values a fact-based approach.
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Ms Merkel holds a PhD in Quantum Chemistry. and worked as a research scientist
That’s not a show But she made a difference in German politics and global politics as a whole.
In a time when politics is divided into polar opposites. She has tried to break the polarity by not turning the issues into politics.
Charlotte Galpin : Senior Lecturer in German and European Politics at the University of Birmingham
Forbes ranks Ms Merkel She was the most influential woman in the world for 10 years in a row. This was the era when Germany was led by women.
Her position is very important to the representation of women. It is known that She has encouraged many women to rise to important positions. For example, she supported Germany’s first female defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen. to serve as President of the European Commission
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Ms Merkel poses for a photo with Ms Ursula von der Leyen.
Yet, symbolic representation does not mean that will automatically cause a wide range of changes Especially for women of different colors and gender diverse groups.
Targeting Muslim women and marching against so-called sex madness Occurs widely in Germany This was partly driven by the Alternative for Germany-AfD party in this election. The issue of gender-appropriate language has become a political issue. Mrs. Merkel refused to speak about this matter.
Dr. Rudiger Schmitt-Beck: Professor of Political Science and Political Sociology at the University of Mannheim.
Her policy works have a peculiar mix of modernity and backwardness.
Many advanced policies such as same-sex marriage, gradual phasing out of nuclear energy and welcoming immigrants No one expected to see these policies from a Christian democratic prime minister.
However, Germany still lags behind on key issues such as digital transformation, climate policy. and demographic changes
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The AfD opposes Merkel’s liberal policies. towards immigrants and refugees
While Mrs. Merkel was at the end of her power The political landscape became more volatile. This is partly due to the complex political party system and the AfD party, which supports anti-immigration.
Of course, she is Germany’s first female chancellor. Dr. Schmitt-Beck is confident that her presidency-like style of governance and her emphasis on action. will be a good role model for the next prime minister
Dr. Katlin Schreiter : Lecturer on European and German Studies at King’s College London University
Her work was not flashy, but rather determined. She is a direct and earnest leader. reliable She has always been criticized. no vision But voters know that What will they get from you?
She’s also brilliant at reading people’s minds. Makes her understand the mood of the voters. With the same skill, she also gained the trust of international partners.
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Ms Merkel had a close relationship with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Another contribution she left behind was that she gave her conservative political party the Christian Democrats more freedom.
What were some key moments during her tenure, and why?
Matt Quatrup : Her main contribution is to save the euro currency. and coping with the 2008 financial crisis
I remember talking to her in Brussels back then. To deal with the crisis, she said she wanted a market economy as much as possible. But it requires as much state intervention as necessary.
Germany’s Social Democrats used this as a 1960s slogan. When I told her about it, she replied, “I’m not a historian. I am a practitioner.”
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Ms Merkel had a bad relationship with former US President Donald Trump.
The second incident was her response during Trump’s time. She has always been wary of international liberalism. In fact, former US President Barack Obama persuaded her to run for a fourth term as soon as Trump won. Mr Obama had traveled to Berlin to meet with Ms Merkel.
After the meeting, Mr Obama said he saw tears in her eyes. she is very lonely
She keeps the ship afloat. And now she’s done her job. she can go now
Charlotte Galpin : During Mrs. Merkel’s tenure there were many crises.
One of the major events was the refugee crisis. As refugees face a humanitarian crisis in the Balkans, Merkel opened Germany’s borders and accepted nearly 1 million refugees in 2015 and declared “we can handle this”.
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Germany played a key role in mitigating the 2015 refugee crisis.
Germany is on the side of a handful of European countries that provide shelter to Syrians fleeing civil war. In 2015, the AfD switched from an economic liberal and anti-euro party. became an Islamist and far-right party.
AfD’s success in recent general elections This led to the first right-wing parliamentarians to be held in Germany since the 1960s.
Dr. Rudiger Schmitt-Beck : Three events that come to mind
The first was when Merkel and her finance minister addressed the public in 2008 to reassure them that The government will guarantee their deposits. to prevent people flocking to withdraw money
The second event was a high-level EU talks on debt relief for Greece during the Euro Crisis.
and the last event is Ms Merkel’s decision not to close the border for refugees stranded in Hungary in 2015 requires caution in this regard. Ms Merkel has not opened borders. as people always say But she decided not to close the borders.
Dr. Katlin Schreiter : One of those events was in 2017 when she was preparing to introduce same-sex marriage to parliament.
Shortly before the election In an interview with a women’s magazine, she said that voting on these issues was an individual matter. She violated party rules and allowed that law to pass parliament. After many years of delay That was a major achievement.
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Germany has accepted same-sex marriage since 2017.
One of her words that Dr. Schreiter enjoyed most was one of her early days when she was asked, What did she think of when she thought of Germany? She replied, “I miss well-sealed windows. No other country has been able to make such good and sealed windows.”
That shows her sense of humor and pragmatism. She made it a small, tangible matter.
Answers to these questions have been edited for clarity and brevity.
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