The World From Berlin

'It's Time for Control-Freak Merkel to Groom a Crown Prince'

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Home alone -- Merkel needs to nurture a new generation of leaders, commentators argue.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has no rivals left in her party after six state governors from her Christian Democratic Union quit in the last nine months. Commentators say she must start grooming a successor but question whether the "control freak chancellor" will take that step.

Chancellor Angela Merkel urgently needs to nurture a new generation of leaders in her conservative Christian Democrat Union party, media commentators write on Tuesday following Sunday's resignation of Hamburg Mayor Ole von Beust, the sixth state governor from the CDU to leave office in the last nine months.

The departures underscore Merkel's power in the CDU because she has no serious rivals left. But there is a growing impression that the party is being weakened by the loss of its top people, and Merkel needs to dispel that view by grooming strong new leaders capable of taking over from her one day.

The timing isn't bad given that the CDU has ample time -- probably three years -- to rejuvenate itself before the next general election. If Merkel doesn't seize that opportunity, she will face damaging accusations that she just wants to secure her own personal power, commentators write.

The Financial Times Deutschland writes:

" Roland Koch and Ole von Beust were important figures for the various wings of the party. But glorifying them now at the probable end of their political careers would be as inappropriate as it would be to glorify Jürgen Rüttgers, who was voted out of office, or Günther Oettinger and Christian Wulff, who have switched to other official posts. They were all involved in the CDU's decline or at least weren't able to prevent it. And things can't get much worse under their successors."

"The timing of their departure is not particularly unfavorable, contrary to what is so often claimed in such circumstances -- in fact, it is extremely fortunate. The CDU probably still has another three years before the next general election. It can spend that time calmly grooming the successor generation. The last transformation of this kind was 10 years ago, and it did the crisis-hit government a lot of good at the time."

"Now that the old guard is leaving, the chancellor must nurture the best of the new generation -- which doesn't mean promoting only those people who pose the least threat to her. That will also involve grooming a crown prince -- or crown princess -- to take over when Merkel doesn't want to or is unable to continue. Now is the time to take such decisions. But whether the control freak chancellor is capable of doing so is another question."

The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"There's nothing to suggest any common motivation behind the departure of a whole generation of leading regional politicians. None of them evidently had any inclination to fight to the last breath for his office. The often-cited hedonism of modern society doesn't appear to be totally alien to politicians either."

"It would be premature to conclude that the CDU leadership is 'showing signs of dissolving.' But party leader Merkel would be well advised to develop a personnel strategy to counter the public impression that the party is growing weaker."

The Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel writes:

"Merkel never established a real, existential political connection, be it with an issue or a person. ... It is hard to recall an instance when she said: We need that, we need him, I need him. ... If someone quits, like von Beust most recently, then it somehow doesn't matter, the next one will just come along. It means nothing for the chancellor and her power. On the contrary, because at least for the time being there's no one left who could threaten her. The young successors aren't ready to challenge her yet and who knows how long they will stick it?"

"But things could get dangerous for Merkel if people in and outside her party were to conclude that Merkel, apart from when she's watching football matches, is only capable of calculation and unable to show empathy. And that she is either unwilling to or incapable of putting herself in the position of others, feeling with them and reacting appropriately."

David Crossland