Her narrow majority betokens less personal weakness than political fragmentation
“GEWÄHLT ist gewählt und Mehrheit ist Mehrheit,” goes a saying in German politics coined by Gerhard Schröder, the former chancellor: “elected is elected and a majority is a majority”. The term could become Ursula von der Leyen’s new mantra. On the evening of July 16th the German defence minister was elected the new president of the European Commission by the European Parliament.
Clearly Mrs von der Leyen wanted to avoid that outcome. Her speech this morning was her last effort to do so. The vote was secret. But its narrowness suggests that without the votes of, say, Poland’s right-populist Law and Justice MPs or those of Hungary’s authoritarian Fidesz, she would not have won. One rumour, encouraged by sources in Warsaw, has it that Angela Merkel called PiS leaders to secure their support for her compatriot and ally .
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