After losing several German states to the Social-Democrats, the Christian-Democrats of the CDU have won two elections within 8 days. But the real winners are the Green party, who have established themselves as unquestioned kingmakers.
The president of Germany primarily has a representative function, but the gravitas of the office lends importance to his statements. With 4 out of the 6 parties in Parliament endorsing Frank-Walter Steinmeier for another term, the election might just turn into a show of vanities.
Germany’s new hard-left interior minister, Nancy Faeser (SPD), is on the defensive after it was revealed that she wrote for a far-left Antifa magazine managed by an organization with links to extremism.
Germany’s vice-chancellor and economics minister, Robert Habeck, has come out with strong reservations about turning on the already-constructed pipeline, putting him at odds with Chancellor Olaf Scholtz.
Franziska Giffey was elected with 84 votes in favor (out of 139) in the House of Representatives, making her the first woman appointed to the highest office of Berlin politics.
Widely ignored by the establishment press, the annual Party Congress of Germany’s Social Democratic Party—which is the Federal Health Minister’s party—has been funded by Pfizer, which is projected to rake in €32 billion this year through sales of its COVID-19 vaccine.
A brief round-up of some of the ‘big names’ that are set to head up Germany’s powerful ministries under the new ‘Ampel-Koalition’ formed by the SPD, the Greens, and the FDP.