Germany's Bundestag election, which will replace Merkel, who has led Germany for 16 years and has demonstrated strong leadership in Europe, will be voted a week later.


In the election campaign, in addition to the two major political parties, the center-right and the center-left, the "Green Party", which has been boosted by heightened environmental awareness, is also competing.

Elections for the expiration of the term of the Bundestag, the German House of Representatives, will be voted on the 26th of this month.



In this election, in addition to policy debates such as economic measures and climate change measures in the Corona disaster, what kind of leader is desirable to replace Merkel, who has served as prime minister for 16 years and will retire from politics only this term. It's a dispute.



According to the opinion poll released by the public broadcaster ZDF on the 17th, the


center-left "Social Democratic Party" of the two major political parties in the coalition government took the lead with a support rate of 25%, and


▽ the center-right of Prime Minister Merkel. The "Christian Democratic Union" accounted for 22%,


followed by the growing environmental awareness, and the


opposition party "Green Party" accounted for 16%.



Regarding the candidate for prime minister,


Mr. Schortz (63) of the "Social Democratic Party" gained popularity due to his high practical ability as the incumbent finance minister,


and received the support of Chancellor Angela Merkel in the "Christian Democratic Union". Mr. Rachette (60) and


Mr. Bearbock (40), the female leader of the ▽ "Green Party", are separated.



In response to the various challenges Germany has faced over the years, the election to replace Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has demonstrated strong leadership in the EU-European Union, has attracted a great deal of attention from the international community.

16 years of Chancellor Angela Merkel

Chancellor Angela Merkel is 67 years old.



For four terms and 16 years, he has led Germany and has demonstrated leadership in European politics.



A physicist raised in the former East Germany, he joined the political activities in the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and in 2005, at the youngest age of 51, became the first female prime minister in Germany.



He has demonstrated his solid skills in the many difficult situations that Germany has faced for 16 years, and while belonging to the center-right "Christian Democratic Union", he has promoted liberal policies such as the acceptance of nuclear power generation and same-sex marriage, and a wide range of people. Has gained stable support from.



After the second term of 2009, when a large budget deficit was discovered in Greece and the credit instability in Europe spread, the EU = European Union against the backdrop of Germany's economic strength and relatively sound financial situation. Lead the measures of.



While urging Greece and other countries to take austerity measures and structural reforms in order to rebuild their finances, they took a definite attitude not to easily put in taxes for the German people for support, and domestic support increased.



In the case of the accident at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in 2011, we changed the conventional policy and decided to "de-nuclear power". ..



In 2014, in the "Ukraine crisis" in which pro-Russian factions and government troops fought in eastern Ukraine, he acted as a mediator himself and brought it to a standstill agreement in consultation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and others. It was also evaluated.



In addition, when Mr. Trump, who continues to appeal for multilateral cooperation in promoting free trade and combating climate change and advocates his own country first in the US presidential election in 2016, wins, the Western media said, "The last of liberal democracy. It was also described as a "guardian".



On the other hand, China emphasizes economic ties even as international concerns over human rights issues in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region grow, and Russia also attaches importance to the undersea pipeline "Nord" for transporting natural gas to Germany. He promoted the "Stream 2" plan and received criticism and opposition from the US and EU member states.



The decision to accept refugees from Syria and other parts of the Middle East in 2015 would subsequently undermine Merkel's centripetal force.



At first, Merkel was tolerant of accepting refugees, saying that "it is natural to protect those who seek help," and more than one million refugees have arrived in Germany.



However, when German women were violently attacked by a group of refugees, criticism increased in the country, and in the last 2017 federal election, the right-wing party "Alternative for Germany" opposed to accepting refugees. The ruling party suffered a series of defeats in local elections, allowing it to make a leap forward.



In 2018, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that she would retire from the ruling party's leadership position in a series of responsibilities and would retire from politics after completing her fourth term as prime minister.



However, when the infection of the new coronavirus spread in Japan last year, it will regain its presence in response to the crisis.



When we restricted traffic to and from neighboring countries in March last year, we frankly explained to the public how difficult it was to restrict movement and asked for their understanding, and in December last year we felt the need for stricter measures. I appealed openly.



It is said that the attitude of emphasizing science, deciding whether to introduce or relax restrictive measures based on objective data, and seeking the understanding of the people with all words is gaining deep trust.