VilaWeb - Diari escola: Angela Merkel: an unusual politician

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dimecres, 18 de setembre de 2024

> Lacking in charisma, but very popular

> Scientific education

> The world's most powerful woman

dimarts, 22 de setembre de 2009

On Sunday 27 September, Germany holds elections that will determine the composition of the Bundestag (the name given to the German parliament) and decide who will be chancellor, or prime minister. Angela Merkel, who in 2005 became the country's first female chancellor, hopes once again to lead the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to victory.

And it looks like she will succeed. Opinion polls give the Christian Democrats 36% of the votes, 11 points ahead of their key rival, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Behind them is the Free Democratic Party (FDP), with a predicted 13% of the votes, the Left Party, with 11%, and the Greens, with 10%.

One thing is certain: there will not be an absolute majority, meaning that a coalition government will need to be formed. For the last four years, Germany has been ruled by a coalition between the two main parties: the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany. It is possible that there will be a repeat of this coalition; however, a pact between the Christian Democrats and the liberal-leaning Free Democratic Party is not being ruled out.

Either way, nothing has been decided, especially if we bear in mind that 40% of voters have yet to make up their minds.

! Actualització el 28/09/2009 a les 06:00

VilaWeb: Merkel aconsegueix desfer-se dels socialistes .

+ Enciclopèdia Catalana: Alemanya.

Lacking in charisma, but very popular

+ Angela Merkel has become Germany's most popular politician.

It has been said that Angela Merkel is a politician without charisma or the slightest interest in her image (although she has tried to correct this perception by sporting a new hairstyle and wearing brightly coloured jackets). The fact is, however, that she has become Germany's most popular politician, on account of her rigour, her seriousness, her ability to engage in dialogue and for the way she has handled the economic crisis, from which Germany has already started to recover.

Scientific education

+ Merkel studied physics and worked in the field of science.

The daughter of a Protestant pastor, Angela Merkel was born in Hamburg in 1954. When she was very young she and her family moved to what was then the German Democratic Republic. (At the time, Germany was divided between the capitalist Federal Republic of Germany and the communist German Democratic Republic.) There she studied physics and worked in the field of science. She entered politics at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989), which put an end to the division in Germany that was created in the aftermath of the Second World War (1939-1945).

The world's most powerful woman

+ Merkel with United States President Barack Obama.

Angela Merkel headed the list of the hundred most powerful women in the world published by the US magazine Forbes in August this year. In second place was Sheila Bair, chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in the Unites States, for her role in tackling the economic crisis, followed by Indra Nooyi, chief executive officer of PepsiCo. Merkel also headed the three preceding lists: 2006, 2007 and 2008.

MATERIALS

Dra. Angela Merkel
Format:Web
Esbós autobiogràfic, a la pàgina de la Unió Democristiana (CDU).
Angela Merkel
Format:Web
Biografia del Centre d'Estudis Internacionals de Barcelona (CIDOB).
Deutsche Welle
Format:Web
Canal internacional d'informació sobre Alemanya. En una trentena de llengües.
German federal election, 2009
Format:Web
Pàgina de la Wikipedia sobre les eleccions alemanyes del 27 de setembre.
Germany
Format:Web
Guia de la revista juvenil, Time for Kids.

QUE HO SABIES?

Angela Merkel's favourite hobbies include reading, hiking and gardening.
Germany, the most highly populated country in the European Union, is the world's fourth economic power, behind the United States, Japan and China.
For many decades the Christian Social Union (CSU), a Bavarian political party, has been allied with the CDU. Out of all the states in Germany, Bavaria has the most pronounced identity.