Markus Söder's elevation to Germany’s de facto corona-chief has surprised many, including his own supporters
in Neubeuern, a pretty Bavarian town near the Austrian border. Supporters of the Christian Social Union , a conservative party that runs the state, have gathered to take stock ahead of local elections. Asked if Markus Söder, thechief and state premier, is doing well, all ten put a hand up. Asked if he would be a good chancellor, the tally falls to six; he would struggle to hold Germany together, says a dissenter.
Bavaria, a big, rich, swaggering state, has more covid-19 cases than any other. But Mr Söder is having a good crisis. He closed schools early; when other states followed it seemed as if Munich rather than Berlin was driving policy. He inserted himself into national economic debates and left other state premiers, such as Armin Laschet in North Rhine-Westphalia, who has said Germany must think about easing restrictions, looking flat-footed or naive.
Mr Söder’s elevation to Germany’s de facto corona-chief has surprised many, including his own supporters. Sceptics were legion when he took over in Bavaria two years ago, says Ursula Münch at the Tutzing Academy for Political Education. His ambition, honed for years in the mudpit of Bavarian politics, seemed too raw. He started silly culture wars. In October 2018 he lost theits long-held majority, having tilted rightward in a vain bid to squeeze the populist Alternative for Germany.
Yet in the spirit of the outlandish costumes he loves to don in carnival season, Mr Söder simply adopted a new identity. Detecting Germans’ growing climate concerns, he broadcast his love for bees and trees. He found a statesmanlike tone with wide appeal, stressing the economy and technology. Mr Söder hopes to maintain theas a broad church, emulating the party’s other great leaders, Edmund Stoiber and Franz Josef Strauss.
No wonder people are asking if he might seek the biggest job of all. Mrs Merkel will leave the chancellery at the next election, in autumn 2021, and at some point the
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