In 2005 she emerged as chancellor after an inconclusive election yielded a fractious coalition between the CDU, its sister party, the Christian Social Union, and the centre-left Social Democrats. Merkel kept it together, bending to the left when required: she ditched free-market reforms, imposed a minimum wage in some sectors and introduced a huge fiscal stimulus. She also pulled the country out of recession with a stringent economic program she compared to that of a “Swabian housewife.”
Merkel’s politics of expediency have proven efficacious. “What, and whom, does Angela Merkel stand for?” the daily Berliner Zeitung asked in an analysis of her “mysterious” character during the 2009 election. “Nobody knows. And that is the secret to her success.”
Her consensual style put an end to comparisons to former British PM Margaret Thatcher. If anything, she’s more steel than iron. When asked “Are you tough?” during the 2005 election, she deflected the question by saying, “Let’s just say I’m persistent.” Her reluctance to contribute to the international stimulus effort last year won her the derisive nickname “Madame Non.” When national interests are at stake, she’ll step on big toes: she fought off EU emissions caps on behalf of German industry. She has played tough with the U.S.: though intent on mending what she saw as predecessor Gerhard Schröder’s strident break with Washington over the Iraq war, she appears unmoved by Obama’s charm. She denied his request to speak in front of the Brandenburg Gate during his 2008 presidential bid, saying it was not an appropriate campaign stop. She has challenged his handling of the economic crisis. Even his recent praise of Germany as “the centrepiece for an extraordinarily strong European Union” didn’t thaw her—she used the Berlin Wall anniversary to remind the U.S. it must channel its interests through international institutions.
On the world stage, Merkel has racked up an impressive series of policy coups, among them a hard-fought compromise on the EU budget in 2006 and a climate deal that helped forge a new global warming toward Germany itself. Seen as a moderating influence in the ongoing experiment of the EU, she’s also one of its chief architects, having negotiated key European bloc reform treaties. New EU President Herman Van Rompuy will find it difficult to do anything that contradicts her wishes.
One constituency that has failed to warm to Merkel is German women, many of whom are frustrated by her avoidance of “women’s issues.” In an interview with the German feminist magazine Emma, Merkel admitted the pay gap between the sexes is a “real problem” but ruled out state intervention. “I advise any woman who earns less than her male colleague for the same work to go to her boss self-confidently and say something has to change,” she said. “We politicians will keep up the pressure.”
But she did make a clear bid to appeal to female voters during the last election by joking about her dowdy image in a TV ad: “I still learn something new every day,” she said. “Like how important a hairstyle can be,” a reference to updating her severe bowl cut to a softer, blonder coif. Ever the pragmatic pol, Merkel’s willing to deliver what the electorate wants. Just don’t wait for the facelift: the world’s most powerful woman wouldn’t want the mass distraction.
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