BERLIN: Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel has congratulated Finance Minister Olaf Scholz from the rival Social Democrats on his election victory, a government statement said Wednesday, as Merkel’s conservatives remain in disarray after the vote.
Scholz’s SPD won 25.7 percent of the vote in Sunday’s hard-fought general election, while Merkel’s center-right CDU-CSU bloc slumped to a record-low of 24.1 percent.
“The chancellor congratulated Olaf Scholz on Monday on his election success,” the statement said.
Merkel’s would-be conservative successor Armin Laschet has yet to publicly do so.
Despite leading the conservative alliance to its worst result in its seven-decade history, the unpopular Laschet has insisted on trying to form the next German coalition government with him as chancellor.
But key conservative figures have increasingly distanced themselves from Laschet in recent days, raising doubts about his future.
Bavarian premier Markus Soeder, leader of the CSU sister party to the CDU, publicly congratulated Scholz in a press conference on Tuesday, illustrating a growing rift with Laschet.
“Olaf Scholz clearly has the better chance of becoming chancellor at the moment,” Soeder said, insisting the election result “must be accepted, it is a basic rule of democracy.”
Merkel herself is standing down after 16 years at the helm of Europe’s top economy.
But the veteran leader will stay on in a caretaker capacity until the new government is formed, expected to take weeks or even months.
With neither the SPD nor the CDU-CSU keen on teaming up again in a so-called grand coalition, the only way either can achieve a parliamentary majority is by partnering with the Greens and the pro-business FDP party.
Merkel ‘has congratulated Scholz on his election win’
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Merkel ‘has congratulated Scholz on his election win’
- Finance Minister Olaf Scholz's SPD won 25.7 percent of the vote in Sunday's hard-fought general election
- Angela Merkel's centre-right CDU-CSU bloc slumped to a record-low of 24.1 percent
‘Peace and stability are ultimate prerequisites for growth and prosperity,’ Indonesia’s president tells WEF
- While world faces tightening financial conditions, trade tensions, political uncertainty, ‘Indonesia continues to grow,’ says Prabowo Subianto
- He says country does not fear economic integration
BEIRUT: History teaches us that “peace and stability are our most valuable assets” and the “ultimate prerequisites for growth and prosperity” as there will be no prosperity without peace, Indonesia’s president said on Thursday.
Prabowo Subianto, in his special address before the World Economic Forum, said: “We gather here in Davos at a time of great uncertainty; a time when wars continue to break out … a time when trust between nations, between institutions, between peoples is fragile.”
According to Subianto, the International Monetary Fund recently described Indonesia as “a global bright spot with strong economic growth amid a challenging external environment.”
While the world faced tightening financial conditions, trade tensions and political uncertainty, “Indonesia continues to grow,” Subianto said, adding that his country’s economy had grown by more than 5 percent every year over the last decade.
“I am confident that this year our growth will be higher,” he said, noting that inflation remained at about 2 percent, while the government deficit had been kept below 3 percent of gross domestic product.
He said that international institutions did not praise Indonesia because of unfounded optimism, but because of evidence. “They recognized that Indonesia’s economy is resilient,” he said, emphasizing that “peace and stability in Indonesia over the years” did not happen by chance.
He added that his country had always chosen unity over fragmentation, and friendship and collaboration over confrontation. He stressed “friendship over enmity.”
Subianto explained that his country had never defaulted on paying its debts and “succeeding regimes always pay the debts of the preceding regime.”
Regarding the economy, the Indonesian president said his country did not fear economic integration, adding: “We have been a trading nation for hundreds of years, and we now conclude trade agreements, not because it is fashionable but we consider it necessary.
“We believe in the concept of win-win. Last year we signed free trade agreements and comprehensive economic partnership agreements with Europe, the EU, Canada (and) Peru, and I have just visited the UK to sign our new strategic partnership and also an economic growth agreement.” He hopes that by 2027 Indonesia has in place a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the UK.
Its policy is part of the country’s strategy to deepen productivity, reduce barriers and unlock private sector growth for Indonesia, ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the Global South, he said.
Subianto added in a session chaired by Borge Brende, WEF’s president and CEO: “We believe that trade integration, when done fairly, is not a threat to sovereignty. We believe trade is a tool for prosperity.
“Indonesia has a clear vision, as we are determined to become a modern country integrated with the global economy (while) providing (a) good quality of life for its citizens, living free of poverty and hunger.”
He further highlighted the importance of political and economic stability as a prerequisite for investments.
Toward the end of his address, the Indonesian president reiterated that “peace and stability is a long and arduous program.”
He added: “Indonesia chooses peace versus chaos. We want to be a friend to all, and an enemy to none. We want to be a good neighbor and a good, responsible citizen of the world, protecting the environment and protecting nature. We must not destroy nature, and live with it.
“Let us build the world we want to live in together. Let us continue the journey to improve the quality of life for all to live in peace, freedom, friendship, tolerance, coexistence, and (with) cooperation for all races, ethnicities, and religions.
“Let us continue our pursuit of justice for all, and security and freedom for all.”
