she shoots. she scores
Germany goes to the polls this weekend and it will surprise no-one that Angela Merkel will be returned for a fourth term. And why should it be any different? Theirs is the largest, wealthiest, most powerful, politically stable and downright happy country in Europe, if not further afield. Furthermore, Merkel herself has anchored her image as a safe pair of hands, reliable, competent, unassuming yet tried and tested; dare I say ‘strong & stable’!
Within the election, Brexit rhetoric has been noticeable only by its complete absence and neither politician nor voter has shown the slightest interest in our trials & tribulations. As a perfect example, the subject was not mentioned once in the recent TV election debate between Markel and her Social Democrat opponent. Not once. And this in a country that suffered a massive influx of refugees in 2015 that, in many ways, triggered both Brexit and Marie Le Pen’s rise to prominence in the subsequent French elections. Yes, the far-right AfD will be visible, particularly in the former East Germany, but it will assume no power whatsoever as Angela has cleverly changed her policy on the permanently open-door whilst keeping the message defiantly liberal and moral.
But hey, what do we care, we’ll always be able to fall back on 1966 and all that jazz. They think it’s over. It is now…
