While negotiations continue to form the new coalition that will lead Germany following the election on September 26, Chancellor Angela Merkel is painstakingly ensuring the continuity of the government. With the negotiations between the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens (Grüne) and Liberals (FDP) promising to be particularly complex, the German state can be expected to operate in slow motion for several months, a situation far from to be ideal in this time of pandemic crisis.
Recently returned to Canada after spending eight years in Germany, four of which as Ambassador of Canada, I continue to follow developments in this country which is Europe’s leading economic power and an important partner for Canada. The general impression Canadians can have of Germany is that of a country extremely well run by an extraordinary Chancellor who has kept her country stable and prosperous through thick and thin.
If this positive impression is justified in many respects, it does not however reflect the overall record of Angela Merkel and the development of Germany over the last 16 years marked by her rule.
I arrived in Germany in September 2013 just in time to witness the re-election of the Chancellor when the Christian Democratic alliance formed by the CDU and its brother Bavarian party (CSU) had just recorded an impressive score with 41.5 % of votes. When we consider the 24.1% of the vote obtained in the federal election last September, we can measure the extent of the collapse of the alliance, which has thus known the worst result since its creation in 1949.
Much ink has flowed in an attempt to explain this announced defeat: desire for change, weakness of the CDU candidate, tensions in the CDU-CSU alliance, persistent resentment of part of the conservative electorate following the Merkel’s decision to let in over 1 million refugees in 2015. All of this, of course, weighed on the voters’ vote. But there is a factor which, although little mentioned, seems to me at least as well if not more important: the lack of succession within the party of Mr.me Merkel, a situation caused by the Chancellor herself who, over the years, has carried out the subtle but systematic elimination of any potential competitor who may have ultimately sought to eclipse and replace her within of the CDU.
It should be remembered that it was by pushing her mentor Helmut Kohl towards the exit in 1999 that Angela Merkel became head of the CDU and chancellor. It just goes to show that this extraordinary politician, for whom I have great admiration, also has her shortcomings which, if any, have led her party to historic defeat. Ironically, the CDU-CSU alliance likely would have won the election if Merkel had been its candidate rather than lackluster Armin Laschelt.
PHOTO ODD ANDERSEN, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
Angela Merkel at the Public Gallery at the Bundestag, Berlin, October 26
Heavy decision-making process
Residing in Berlin when the pandemic was declared in March 2020, I was able to observe closely and often with dismay, the management of the fight against COVID-19 and the vaccination. I was struck by the heaviness of the German decision-making process, the interminable meetings of the Chancellor with the presiding ministers of the Länder (the equivalent of our provinces), the ferocity, even the violence of anti-vaccines, and especially the extreme slowness of the establishment of the vaccination system.
I take as an example the six hours of waiting on the phone last April so that my 66-year-old husband could get an appointment to receive an AstraZeneca vaccine offered suddenly and for only a few days to those under 70 years old. I also think back to the astronomical costs of vaccinating the elderly in hard-to-reach vaccination centers that have led the Berlin government to pay for round-trip taxi fare to people over 70 who want to be vaccinated.
While I expected Germany, where the Pfizer vaccine was developed, to be one of the best organized countries in terms of vaccination, I was disappointed and gradually began to envy Quebecers who could be vaccinated more and more quickly and in ways of exemplary simplicity and efficiency.
I will also not soon forget my experience when I had my Berlin vaccination proof transferred to a European vaccination passport. This service provided in particular by several Berlin pharmacies and for which they were remunerated, should in principle encourage citizens to obtain a European certificate and thus contribute to the resumption of mobility of people, one of the main axes of European construction. The attitude of the staff at the pharmacy I visited had absolutely nothing to do with the kind and efficient welcome I received when I went to the Palais des congrès de Montréal to obtain a Quebec vaccine passport on the basis of that obtained in Europe.
There would be a lot more to say about what I would call the “German mirage”, but I would like to end by mentioning the Berlin airport saga. The now famous airport fiasco never ceases to amaze any admirer of German efficiency. Finally inaugurated in October 2020 nine years late and at a cost of 6.5 billion euros (more than 9.3 billion dollars) while the initial budget was 1.7 billion (nearly 2.5 billion) , the airport continues to make headlines. Travelers are complaining about signage deficiencies and failing to clear security checks in less than two hours with ridership hovering around 50% of what it should be without the pandemic.
My extended stay in Germany was very interesting. I was able to appreciate the quality and the seriousness of the many politicians whom I met there, but I also could observe the considerable weaknesses of the German system, often aggravated by those of the bureaucracy of the European Union. Finally, I can say without hesitation that Canada need not fear comparison with Germany in terms of our ability to manage crises such as the current pandemic.
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