After the latest blow to Angela Merkel this weekend, with her party coming in third place to an anti-immigrant party in a state election, analysts are questioning both how much longer the German chancellor’s refugee policy can stay intact and how long she can stay in power.
“(The result was) a blow to the chancellor personally and sharpens the question over whether she will lead her party into next year’s general election,” Alastair Newton, co-founder and director of Alavan Business Advisory, said in a note Sunday.
“So far, Merkel has declined to commit to standing again for the role of chancellor in next year’s general election … However, her diminishing personal popularity ratings do beg the question of whether she may choose to step to one side rather than risk a damaging internal challenge or even the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) being ejected from government under her leadership,” Newton added.
