Merkel Muzzling Coalition Critics to Gain Time

Spiegel
September 14, 2011

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has tried to bring her coalition partners back in line following rogue comments on a possible Greek bankruptcy and exit from the euro zone. She is desperate to restore calm in her ranks to avoid exacerbating the crisis and to gain time to prepare for worst-case scenarios.

These days, when Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy issue a joint statement, it usually means that the debt crisis has fallen into a state of greatest possible uncertainty. It's when the German chancellor and the French president feel compelled to call for quiet and discipline. The message to be expected at these times is that the euro is safe, the Greeks have understood what must be done and that everything is under control -- even if nothing really is.

Tuesday, midday, appeared to be one such time. A news agency had reported that a joint German-French statement on the euro bailout was expected imminently. The news was followed a half-hour later by denials -- first from Paris and later from Berlin. "There will be no paper on Greece today," Merkel stated personally during a press conference held after a meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen in the chancellor's offices, the Chancellery.

There was little Merkel could do about the false report. The rumor appeared to have originated somewhere close to the French government. Nevertheless, the latest confusion was symptomatic. The chancellor's crisis management isn't going well, and the policies being pursued in efforts to rescue the euro are appearing more and more like some kind of odyssey.

Merkel, who heads the conservative Christian Democratic Union party, is in a dilemma. Germany, as the continent's economic engine, has a duty to hold the European Union and the euro zone together at this difficult time. But Merkel must also pay attention to growing skepticism amongst the German public, and she must explain and justify her actions to critics within her own political ranks. That obviously works best when, at the very least, Merkel's cabinet -- comprised of the her CDU, it's Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP) -- demonstrates unity and speaks with one voice. Precisely the opposite is happening right now, with a growing number of soloists in the unruly choir of her coalition.

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