A third wave of the coronavirus pandemic has heaped more political problems onto Chancellor Angela Merkel and her ruling CDU party as the country edges closer to federal elections later this year.
Germany was initially widely praised for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, dealing deftly with the initial outbreak in the country by isolating cases and tracing contacts while its modern and well-equipped hospitals helped to keep fatalities low.
A year on, and the situation is very different, with Europe’s biggest economy confronting a third wave of infections, a rising death toll and accusations of health crisis mismanagement aimed at the government.
On Wednesday, Merkel made waves by reversing a plan to lockdown the country over the Easter break saying she had made a “mistake.” This came after criticism from health experts and business leaders, who said the proposal could cause more harm than good.
The concession comes as experts reflect on Germany’s handling of the pandemic, and look at how the ruling Christian Democratic Union-Christian Social Union parties could be affected when Germans cast their votes in a federal election in September.
Merkel’s CDU party has already fared poorly in recent state elections, signaling that it could be punished again later in the year by voters erring toward the center-left Social Democrats and particularly, the environmentalist Greens, whose support has risen markedly.
“Mismanagement hurts,” Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank, commented in a note Thursday.
“Last March, a deft response to the pandemic sent support for Chancellor Angela Merkel and her CDU/CSU almost into the stratosphere.” But he added that while Germany handled the first wave of the pandemic better than most other developed countries, “this is no longer the case.”
“Confusing policy shifts and slow vaccination progress have now undermined public confidence in the ability of the CDU/CSU, which has led the government for most of post-war history including the past 15 years, to steer Germany through the crisis,” he noted.
Schmieding noted that a kickback scandal involving CDU-CSU members of Parliament had resonated with the public, with polls showing a fall in support for the CDU-CSU back to pre-pandemic levels. “Merkel’s U-turn away from an ‘Easter shutdown’ may add to the woes,” he added.
What’s going wrong?
A drop in popularity for the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, comes as question marks remain over who will be at the helm of Germany’s government come September when Merkel’s final term in office comes to an end. The CDU-CSU have not yet said which candidate it will put forward for the election.
Merkel’s U-turn on Wednesday was unusual given that she has long been considered a steady hand during times of crisis. The move showed that the German government is also feeling the pressure of having to make difficult decisions amid a fast-moving pandemic situation.
Following the U-turn on Wednesday, Merkel rejected demands by the opposition to ask Parliament for a vote of confidence in her government.
