Merkel
ally says her austerity push boosted Le Pen
The
vice chancellor, whose support in his party is slipping, criticized
Merkel on economics and refugees.
By IVO OLIVEIRA
12/11/15, 5:45 PM CET Updated 12/11/15, 7:34 PM CET
Angela Merkel’s
deputy chancellor and the leader of her Social Democrat (SPD)
coalition allies, Sigmar Gabriel, said Friday the chancellor was
partly responsible for the rise of the French far-right because she
had pushed for austerity policies in France.
Gabriel, who is
Germany’s economy minister and vice chancellor, told an SPD
congress in Berlin: “I’ve always warned Angela Merkel against
trying to dictate these austerity measures to France.”
Had his advice been
taken, Gabriel said, “then Ms. Le Pen would not have got as far as
she has.”
Marine Le Pen’s
National Front got the most votes overall in the first round of
France’s regional elections on December 6, ahead of Nicolas
Sarkozy’s center-right Les Républicains and President François
Hollande’s Socialists. The second round is on Sunday December 13.
Gabriel, whose
center-left SPD are junior partners to Merkel’s conservatives in
the ruling coalition and have historically backed a more growth
oriented focus, also criticized her refugee policy, calling it a
“hypocritical double strategy.”
“You can’t
expect to be celebrated in the morning for letting one million
refugees come to Germany and then, later on in the day, pass laws
aimed at treating them worse,” said the SPD leader.
Gabriel was
re-elected as SPD party chairman at the congress with 74.3 percent of
delegates’ votes — lower than the 83.6 percent at the SPD
congress two years ago and his worst performance since taking over as
party leader in 2009.
Authors:
Ivo Oliveira
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