GERMANY’S RATIFICATION of the fiscal treaty became that bit more complicated yesterday when Chancellor Angela Merkel fired her environment minister and replaced him with her trusted chief whip, Peter Altmaier.
Dr Merkel dropped Norbert Röttgen, a would-be crown prince nicknamed “Mother’s favourite”, from her cabinet yesterday to end days of controversy around his disastrous weekend election result in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Mr Röttgen delivered 26 per cent for the Christian Democrats (CDU) – a record low – in Sunday’s poll. Despite standing by her minister on Monday morning, she underestimated anger in the party at the way he conducted the campaign. He was attacked for wanting to have his cake and eat it: run for office in Düsseldorf, but fall back on his minister job in Berlin if the election turned out badly.
That hurt his campaign – and the end result – and annoyed senior CDU colleagues. With controversy growing rather than ebbing, Dr Merkel informed Mr Röttgen after this morning’s cabinet meeting that she was letting him go as environment minister.
The move solves one problem – satisfying internal party pressure to sideline Mr Röttgen – but creates another.
Dr Merkel was relying on Mr Altmaier, one of her few close confidantes, to deliver the parliamentary ratification of the fiscal treaty before the summer break.
The original date for the vote has already slipped from May 25th; opposition parties are withholding their crucial support for the treaty until EU leaders agree a complementary package of growth measures. Time is tight because the German leader has linked the parliamentary ratification of the fiscal treaty – for which she needs a two-thirds majority – to the adoption of the permanent bailout fund (ESM).
Aware that the ESM is highly unpopular, and likely to attract a sizeable No vote, she hopes to minimise rebellion by linking it to the fiscal treaty, which has cross-party support.
Mr Altmaier, a burly and effective chief whip, was the man she needed to deliver that result. But last night the party was hunting around for an effective replacement with the clock ticking: the ESM comes into effect in July, meaning the German leader needs someone to deliver her the right vote before the summer break.
Dr Merkel said yesterday she needed Mr Altmaier’s hand on the tiller to provide a “fresh start” for Germany’s “energy shift” – away from nuclear energy.
The news caught political Berlin off-guard yesterday, two days after she backed her minister. “It’s a surprise because it’s the first minister she has fired in such circumstances,” said political scientist Gerd Langguth.
It wasn’t all bad news yesterday: Chancellor Merkel can look forward to €930 more in her pay packet after the cabinet agreed a 5.7 per cent pay increase – the first in 12 years. Dr Merkel earns €289,986 gross annually.
