BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel already knew that her campaign for a fourth term as Germany’s leader will be her most difficult yet. The deadly truck attack on a Christmas market may have made it tougher — and is already polarizing opinion. German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks(Ap Picture) during a statement at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2016 the day after a truck ran into a crowded Christmas market and killed several people.
A nationalist party that has assailed Merkel’s acceptance of migrants leapt on events in Berlin well before authorities even concluded that the incident was an attack, with a prominent member proclaiming the 12 victims to be «Merkel’s dead.»Monday’s attack also threatened to rekindle tensions between Merkel and Bavarian conservative allies, who have sniped at her migrant policies and demanded a cap on the number of newcomers that Germany will accept, and whose supporters are an important source of votes.
Treated as Suspect
A man arrested after the truck attack Monday night in Berlin and initially treated as a suspect came from Pakistan and registered as an asylum-seeker in Germany last year. Later Tuesday, he was released for lack of evidence tying him to the attack.Leaders around Europe and beyond are watching Merkel’s political fortunes closely, after she emerged as a beacon of tolerance and defender of Western liberal values amid encroaching populism elsewhere.
Electoral math still very much favors Merkel emerging as chancellor again from a parliamentary election expected next September. Her conservative Union bloc has a tidy lead in polls over her center-left rivals, who look unlikely to muster a majority for a new left-wing coalition. The nationalist, anti-migration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has surged over the past year, but its often-provocative rhetoric remains a turnoff for most Germans — its poll ratings have peaked at around 15 percent — and no other party will deal with it.
Calm handling of Crisis
Merkel’s calm handling of crises has been an asset over 11 years as chancellor. But the past year has shown that her personal popularity is vulnerable to at least short-term hits from migrant-related incidents, with polls showing dips after sexual assaults and robberies in Cologne last New Year’s Eve and after a pair of summer attacks in Bavaria committed by asylum-seekers and claimed by the Islamic State group. Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report, writes Associated Press.
Merkel said it would be «particularly sickening» if the assailant were confirmed to be an asylum-seeker — both for Germans who help refugees and «for the many people who really need our help and are making an effort to integrate in our country.»
