This question leads us to others, as well as to remember past anecdotes that help shed light on the crucial elections taking place this Sunday in Germany.
The campaign has been short but tough and unusual from the start. The German elections usually take place in autumn, a classic in September or October, but everything started to be different when they had to be scheduled for winter, at the end of February, coinciding with two events that always happen in the Federal Republic around these dates: the Berlinale, the legendary film festival where stars walk the red carpet under snowflakes, and the Munich Security Conference, the forum where for 60 years the top players in international politics gather to discuss current affairs. The Munich conference was disrupted by the calculated detonation of a destructive message for Europe by the Trump Administration in the heart of the Old Continent.
While Berlin and Brussels lick their wounds, around 60 million Germans are called to bundle up well to go, even if by sleigh (as they often take their children to school), to the polling stations set up by the 16 federal states or Länder (clearly omitting the one Germans affectionately call their 17th Land: Mallorca).
What are the issues that have mobilized voters?
Economy and immigration. The economy is not a surprise debate in a country where its citizens have always been very concerned about the state of their wallets. The country is immersed in a crisis, losing points in a league of growth and competitiveness where they have been champions year after year thanks to their powerful industries. Regarding immigration, it goes hand in hand with security with the narrative imposed by the AfD (Alternative for Germany), the far-right party with 20% in the polls until yesterday, expected to take second place today (though it will surely not govern).
The Christian Democratic formation of Friedrich Merz (CDU) has also focused on what a large majority of Germans openly describe as a problem: they have welcomed millions of refugees in the last decade (from Afghans and Syrians to Ukrainians) and the system is starting to collapse; not to mention the recent knife attacks or run-over incidents committed by immigrants. There have been five attacks in the last nine months with fatal victims that deeply stir the voters: a 37-year-old mother and her two-year-old daughter, a 41-year-old man and another two-year-old child...
The party led by the ultra Alice Weidel knows how to channel this intense discomfort and unease with firm promises to close the borders to halt migration but also to deport.
Can Merz become a great leader?
We go back to the initial question of this text. In a country and a continent eager for a leader to firmly navigate and successfully overcome the current crossroads, all eyes are on the 69-year-old CDU candidate destined to rise in the next few hours as chancellor.
If we are optimistic (something much needed in these times), we can aspire and hope that Merz will have a similar development to what his internal rival once enjoyed: Angela Merkel. When the German conservative ran for elections in 2005, there were many jokes made about her, including her way of dressing with her eternal worn-out black pants. For many, she was still Das Mädchen, the girl, as her mentor, Helmut Kohl, called her. But if the girl was able to defeat the former Christian Democratic chancellor who had supported her by simply publishing a letter against him in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, she also managed to defeat the staunch social democrat Gerhard Schröder at the polls.
Merkel was in power for 16 years, dubbed as Mama Europe, and after her departure in 2021, it was said to mark the end of an era. Now, many are crossing their fingers that with Merz, we are at the beginning of another one.
This is how the televised debate is known, where the leaders of the German political parties that have competed against each other hold on the same election night. Everything has been seen and heard in the different elephant rounds, but few forget the one from the mentioned year 2005 with Chancellor Schröder. The social democrat put on such a show that it made headlines in the German press the next day, with even publications suggesting that the SPD candidate may have shown up drunk to the meeting.
Germany, the die is cast.