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The chancellor has honed the CDU’s appeal to a wide range of voters – but suddenly the future of her party is in doubt
Consider this, and in our time: a leftist political animal who thrives in one of the most hostile environments in contemporary Europe. After Prime Minister António Costa of Portugal and Mayor Ada Colau of Barcelona, Bodo Ramelow is arguably the most successful leftist leader in Europe. He was, until recently, the minister president of the east German state of Thuringia, where his leftwing party, Die Linke, has ruled in coalition with the Greens and Social Democrats for the past six years, and kept both Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and the far right at bay. In a parliamentary election in October Die Linke won more votes than any other – 31% – the first time in German history that Die Linke has performed so well at the state level. But Ramelow’s coalition partners suffered losses, leaving him with the prospect of running a minority government or entering talks with other parties.
A political coup in any state would make for a country-wide frenzy. But the ousting of Ramelow was particularly galling Continue reading...