Word: merkel
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Angela Merkel will be re-elected as Chancellor of Germany on Sept. 27. That's one of the safest bets around. The only question is whether she will be in a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD), as in the last four years, or with the Free Democrats (FDP), a center-right party out of power for 11. In Merkel's success hangs a tale of significance beyond Germany...
...Call the story "The Decline of the European Democratic Left." The SPD has been trailing Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) by up to 15 points for months. The French Socialists were trounced by Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007 and have never recovered. The Italian left was bested by Silvio Berlusconi last year. And in Britain, the Labour party is staring at near certain defeat at the hands of Tory leader David Cameron in elections to be held by next year. (See pictures of world leaders on vacation...
...Romano Prodi in Italy, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in Britain, Gerhard Schröder in Germany, and Presidents, like François Mitterrand, who ruled France for 14 years. The puzzle is sharpened by the current crop of center-right leaders, who are either not very exciting (Merkel) or much too exciting (Sarkozy and Berlusconi, with their flashy or buffo theatrics...
...democracy without the Social Democrats. They have gone environmentalist and welfarist; they are slowly but purposefully appropriating even the cultural issues of the left, like gay rights and feminism. Why should voters shop on the left if they can get what they want from the likes of Cameron or Merkel? When did you last hear of radical pro-market reforms from Sarkozy and Berlusconi? (See pictures of Sarkozy...
...negotiations between GM and the German government. GM wants to keep some ties to Opel's engineering presence in Germany and also retain a veto over any transfer of its technology to Russia. There are also thorny issues over the details of the financing package to work out, though Merkel said today she was confident the obstacles could be overcome. GM's Smith, said he hoped the deal could be closed by November or December. If that happens, America's biggest auto company will finish 2009 in a very different state than it started...