Yahoo Finance Angela Merkel defends her heir amid online censorship row
German chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken out in support of her protégé, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, over the Christian Democrat chairwoman’s controversial suggestion that there should be a debate on rules regulating online political “propaganda” around election seasons.
Speaking after an EU summit in Brussels on Tuesday evening, Merkel said: “Everyone I know in the CDU supports freedom of opinion as a basic principle.”
Merkel dismissed a Bloomberg report from Tuesday claiming she doubted Kramp-Karrenbauer’s ability to succeed her as the next potential chancellor as “nonsense” and said she was “not willing to comment on this any further.”
On Tuesday, Bloomberg quoted unnamed officials in the German government as saying that Merkel had lost faith in Kramp-Karrenbauer, after a series of missteps— including making a joke about transexual people during a skit she performed on stage during the Cologne festival. Under AKK’s new leadership, the CDU suffered a drubbing in the European elections on Sunday.
Kramp-Karrenbauer on Monday said: "What would happen in this country if, say, 70 of newspapers decided two days before the election to make a joint appeal: 'Please don't vote CDU or SPD'?" She added that this would be seen as a clear attempt to manipulate opinion ahead of the vote.
Her remark was mainly in reference to a video posted by popular German YouTuber Rezo, a few days before the European elections. Rezo urged people not to vote for the center-right CDU, Germany’s biggest party, saying it was fostering a huge divide between rich and poor in Germany, and slamming the state of its climate policies.
An online petition launched by two YouTube stars demanding no internet censorship, and that Kramp-Karrenbauer step down has garnered over 55,000 signatures since Tuesday in Germany.
Politicians across the spectrum expressed their disgust at Kramp-Karrenbauer’s remarks on what essentially amounts to online censorship. Even some within her own party have spoken out against her remarks. Armin Laschet, a CDU deputy chairman tweeted: “The constitution protects our freedom of opinion — in all media.”
READ MORE: Outrage in Germany as Merkel's successor suggests curbing political debate online
The European election has been broadly described as a “climate election,” with the Greens becoming the fourth largest group in the European Parliament.
But it was in Germany where they really triumphed, coming in second only to the Christian Democrats, thanks to the support of younger voters concerned that Germany’s traditional parties are not taking any real action to combat climate change.
