FX.co ★ Germany before and after Merkel era

Last Sunday, the 20th parliamentary elections were held in Germany, according to the results of which a new person will become the head of the country. After decades of political domination, the "Iron Frau" Angela Merkel no longer claimed the chair. Meanwhile, the election results show the leadership of Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats who took 1 million 300 thousand votes from Merkel's party. Notably, the Social Democrats managed to lure voters away from all their main competitors, while they lost little.

CDU leader and Mrs. Merkel's natural successor Armin Laschet may take the Chancellor's position. He lags behind Olaf Scholz by a slim margin. Some experts nevertheless rule out such a possibility.

The first female Chancellor in German history, Angela Merkel, led Germany through many crises in her 16 years in power. This is probably why the majority of voters switched to the other coalition en masse. In total, Angela Merkel's party lost 5 million voters in these elections. According to a study by Infratest dimap, there was a "great migration of voters" in Germany.

Merkel has annoyed her compatriots for such a long time in the office. This was accumulating gradually and became difficult to ignore. The popular German slogan Merkel muss weg ("Merkel must go") was actively spread on social media and could be seen even in the streets of many cities. Merkel is accused of many faults, including the collapse of the automobile industry of the German economy and the opening of the borders to thousands of migrants.

The migration crisis that hit Germany in 2015 was the starting point and the beginning of the end of Merkel's popularity. She took the risk of opening the borders to residents of depressed southern countries, who are different in religion, lifestyle, and mindset from Germans. The vast majority of the locals were not enthusiastic about the flood of new culture in their cities and the new neighborhood with a culture and way of life that was alien to them. On top of that, as many critics claim, Merkel's decision contradicted the German constitution and even European law.

The migration flows have already hit the native population of Germany irreparably hard. Due to the increase in crime and ethnic conflicts, the local population's quality of life has been significantly affected. For example, dozens of women were raped in Cologne during New Year's celebrations in 2016. The police did nothing, even though the German economy remained stable and prices did not rise.

The new reality has given rise to a new generation of non-systemic opposition, namely, angry citizens. They are respectable German citizens and have never liked any radical ideas. At a new milestone in German history, they are united by a strong aversion to both A. Merkel and the entire policy of the "old" system parties. This new opposition believes that the current government is disconnected from the people, does not notice the problems, and does not want to go into them. As a result, many thousands of protests began to take place on the streets of German cities. The largest one occurred in Dresden (under the PEGIDA umbrella). With the imposition of COVID-19 restricting measures and compulsory vaccination, these non-partisan groups become more and more numerous.

The methods of dealing with the pandemic imposed under Merkel's government forced a huge number of people who disagreed with them to go on mass strikes, protests, and rallies. The Chancellor reacted extremely harshly. It was not some leftist or rightist radicals who were forcibly dispersed, but the most ordinary well-dressed citizens, who were merely expressing their disagreement with the government's policy. Even the popular Bild tabloid, which usually goes hand in hand with the government's agenda, could not restrain the emotions and eloquently reflected the events of how, in the center of Berlin, the police brutally cracked down on people and mercilessly beat them.

The last straw was the reaction of the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance to the recent flood in the Rhine region. This situation describes the degradation of public administration in the field of citizens' protection. People were shocked that the emergency warning system did not work, despite the fact that the disaster was predicted several days in advance. Only those citizens who had a special application installed on their mobile devices were warned. The authorities did not use any SMS or mailing to notify the citizens. Emergency alarms in many cities did not work, and later it turned out that they had completely rotted from old age. Here is an example of a humane government and a tough economic leader of the EU: while people were dying in the muddy streams, German federal TV channels broadcasted entertainment shows.

Today, the majority of Germans are ready to give up the reins of government to another party. The Social Democrats are the obvious leaders. Society is tired of A. Merkel, conservatives, and all the obvious shortcomings of state governance. The most important thing that worries ordinary people is the greatly deteriorated situation in the country. The trains began to be late on a regular basis, the streets became very dirty, and the state administration is in a deep crisis. Moreover, the middle class is gradually but surely getting poorer. The elder population remembers what Germany was like in the old days, for example, under the Social Democrat Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

The Social Democratic Party, which runs Europe's largest economy, is seen by many Germans as the solution to the problem. In their propaganda, the Social Democrats addressed the needs of the people. They put social guarantees, the development of the German economy, and then the fight against climate change at the forefront. The SPD is a party with over 150 years of history. And now, as never before, they are trying to keep up with the times, with the spirit and interests of the citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany.

However, the CDU may well take away the reins of government from the Social Democrats, especially if Olaf Scholz, having become the Chancellor, makes serious mistakes. And these mistakes are more than likely, especially in conditions of uncertainty, the pandemic, and the global financial crisis, which is likely to spread all over the world.