Pressure is mounting on German Chancellor Angela Merkel as some of her allies won’t back her for a fourth term during next year’s election.
Candidates from the Christian Social Union (CSU), the sister party of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), have “promised” not to back a Merkel candidacy in 2017, according to German newspaper Bild. Merkel has yet to announce a run for re-election, which is believed to have to do with a rift with CSU.
CDU suffered a disastrous election in Merkel’s home state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania Sunday — finishing third behind the Social Democrats and nationalist party Alternative fur Deutschland. CSU leader Horst Seehofer warned that the conservative movement in Germany is “threatened” by Merkel’s open-door immigration policies, and that many more election defeats may follow if she doesn’t change tone. (RELATED: Germans Vote Against Immigration In State Election)
“The situation for the conservatives is extremely threatening,” Seehofer told Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Merkel responded to criticism from her allies Wednesday when she addressed the parliament for the first time since the election.
“I’m sure that if we stick to the truth, we will win back what we need – peoples’ trust,” Merkel told the federal parliament in Berlin.
CSU is further taking a clear stand against Merkel’s refugee policy by suggesting new caps on immigration and a ban on the burqa, according to a draft document seen by Der Spiegel.
“Germany must remain Germany,” the CSU paper said. “We are against the fact that our open-minded country is transformed by immigration or refugees influx.”
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