Mutti, it's over

Mutti

mother

Very few thought on November 22, 2005,

, that this newly elected chancellor could one day equal the records of stability, and even less that she could break all the records of political popularity.

The German newspapers were betting on a rapid collapse of its parliamentary coalition, while in Libé the publishing department could only find in the dictionaries the definition of the chancellor as "the chancellor's wife".

Fifteen years later, Merkel is such a part of the German landscape that it is hard to imagine the country without her.

we can guess that his successor will be tempted to resume his approach to governance - to avoid changes, react to crises after they erupt, display foolproof solidity, spare the big industrialists, polluters or not. . But it is not certain that this formula will work again,

: the limits of the exercise are already obvious. Germany has never been so rich, and no major industrial country has experienced such a high rate of growth. And yet, the country is lagging behind on all the important subjects of the approaching era

- digital, climate, public transport, energy transition.

If the next Chancellor - or the next Chancellor now that the word does exist - does the feat of catching up with Angela Merkel's delay, he may well overtake her in the race for longevity.

The Germans are electing their deputies this Sunday

According to the latest polls

the SPD enjoys a slight lead (between 25 and 27%) over the conservatives of the CDU-CSU (between 20 and 25%).

The ecologists, given the winners in the spring, are credited with 15 to 17%.

The other three parties expected to enter parliament are the liberals of the FDP, the AfD (the far right) and the radical left.

debt

 the approximately 90,000

" auxiliaries "of the French army repatriated from Algeria in 1962 and parked in unworthy camps before being relegated to the margins of society, until today again, deserved this gesture which is not only symbolic.

(…) These men served France willingly or by force, she was indebted to them and she betrayed them.

She owed them and their children and grandchildren who are part of the national community a debt of honor.

A debt of blood.

To ask for forgiveness is to assume it.

look history in the face, this is the method Emmanuel Macron intends to follow on the Algerian war. From this point of view, “forgiveness” to the harkis is a strong act. This step was all the more necessary since it is part of a memorial path marked out for other anniversaries - the repression of the demonstration of Algerians in Paris, on October 17, 1961, the signing of the Evian agreements, on March 19. 1962 - for which France will be called to account by some. For the Macronian claim to "reconcile memories", this will be the test of truth.

all other things being equal, let us hope that this recognition of the errors of the past sheds light on the decision-making concerning the last evacuations and the conditions of reception of the interpreters and Afghan auxiliaries of the French army, for which the country was not always exemplary.

So that tomorrow, no one has to ask their forgiveness.