angela merkel's designated successor says she won't run for the german chancellor ship out of her crimes also plans to step down as leader of the governing c.d.u. those surprise announcements come after its regional politicians defied a ban on cooperating with the far right party the a.f.p. so what's fuelling the cd is divisions and can it survive without michael this is inside story. hello welcome to the program i'm adrian finnegan igle a medical has government job and a full almost 15 years but the chancellor isn't willing to stay for much longer saying she won't run for re-election in 2021 the question of who will succeed her up is again challenging the c.d.u. posse its leader and a grit. was supposed to run for the top job but as announced that she's stepping aside that came off the c.d.u. members voted alongside the far right a.f.d. policy in a regional election the shock move has raised questions over divisions within the party and its impact on job it is politics we'll discuss all of that without guests in just a moment but 1st i was there as dominic cain reports. am i glad camp was supposed to be her party's political future soon she will belong to its past her hopes of being her country's 2nd female chancellor dashed by a route over how her party deals with the far right. as it's no it's been i'm the party leader and i'll remain in this position for the foreseeable future what i've said is that i will not run for chancellor but other than that the situation hasn't changed. the situation certainly has changed and it was this moment that brought her down when christian democrats joined forces with the far right to elect a liberal prime minister in the state of the ring here thereby ousting a popular far left government and breaking a to boo which has stood virtually since the f.t. began life 7 years ago prompting protesters onto the streets in that state and drawing denunciations from all the main political parties many accused of a lack of leadership the accusations which had thought since the election as head of her party in 2018 but it was perhaps the reaction of angular americal which made his decision inevitable late last week she called what took place in the ring year unforgivably here in berlin on monday she was in more conciliatory mood he's come in 1st then us i think it comes i regard this decision with great respect though i greatly regret it i can imagine this wasn't an easy decision for her and i thanked her for being prepared to stay on this day the process of choosing a successor. to some christian democrats this is the person to choose. its once on friendly terms with merkel but who she sidelined many years ago he fought his way back from the political wilderness and ram company close in the leadership election of 2018 whoever actually will succeed. has to make a decision either as she tried to do so to bridge that gap or to lead the. in one of the one of the 2 camps and directions either the american direction for a more moderate liberal course or actually for the direction to become much more conservative and there had been before and then there is the question of what to do about the f.t. in the federal parliament then numbers are too small to be more than an irritant to the mainstream parties but out in the state parliament spitting in the east they are much more numerous and now they are raising their voice many germans a deeply worried by what they're hearing dominic kane al-jazeera berlin. so let's bring in our guests for today's discussion from poland which run by who is a political analyst and professor in european studies at stanford university and then skype from strasbourg we're joined by alan neumann member of the european parliament for the german greens but also in berlin mona. activist and project coordinator for the regional sense of education integration and democracy a pearl in based nongovernmental organization welcome to inside story all of you let's start with you when did it start to and why has it gone so wrong on a graph crime. well if you try to become the successor of a party leader and the chancellor who was elected in 2005 which means now 15 years of being in power and walking in her footsteps is quite something and there has been no discussion about who quit succeed merkel and in what direction things should go so coming from the small part of germany which is solid and where she was governor coming to berlin and being in the shark base in that city you were in the political berlin is i think it has been difficult right from the start and not only last week when things got really messy with the elections in the small state of the ring in the east of germany she's been made various missteps along the way to hasn't she yeah it was a rocky of beginning and it kept being complicated she announced from the start that it's perfectly fine for her to move from being a governor to the head of the christian democratic union something merican was always insisting on that this division of power being the head of the executive as the chancellor and at the same time the head of the biggest party in the german parliament is of utmost importance to hold control in what has to be put together if you are the head of a party that considers itself to be a people's party which means that there are very dear friend political opinions represented in this party and it needs sort of strong leadership to hold it together not to speak of potential crown prince's and princes that rather would like to see america's iraq to end earlier than 15 or potentially 16 years that had a what's what's your view on that to what extent is the separation of the role of chancellor of the party leadership we can that the c.d.u. and how is it benefited your party. well that's 2 questions in what i think 1st of all it has been quite a new thing for the c.d.u. to have this edition between party leadership and the chance the main engines being program out to computer science but i think we have seen the big problematic and how problematic is like in the last few days i'm going to america i just kind of are trying to sort out the situation into a thing and no match for 2 or 3 days and then i'm going to move came back from her job to make a few key decisions and kind of talk going on top of why i don't just come kind of our house to sort it out and that maybe i need to come come by or even weaker than she looked before and maybe we can her and kind of pushed her over the cliff you other question was what does it mean for the greens i think right now is not the moment to discuss the by what it means to what party over another or which sparked . my interest because i think we're in a very difficult and tense situation for germany and german democracy and what kinds of the moment is that all democrats stand together and make barack. on the way to the way of incorporated right a party the special the a.b.c. is not open anyone and i think that is what counts and what this may mean for one party over another is something we will have to see maybe at the next election but it's not with consent. of the screen is that the mode of a delicate and difficult time for germany was saying just the f.t. was quick to hail. resignation as a victory is it safe to say that the f.t. has ousted the leader of the c.d.u. . i'm not sure if i would go so far as to say that the f.t. has activity at our best and i've come public on cabin by law but i would say that obviously the that the way that the a.f.p. acts and that other parties that consider themselves center or even center right parties. they are basically dancing to the f.t.'s drum in a way and they have been for quite some time because they are really concerned with winning back voters that they have not lost. to the i have to they're really concerned with staying in power rather than looking towards the left maybe for solutions of working together for approaches of working together because in germany one of the big arguments in the political discourse at the moment is this horseshoe fieri argument that can states that the far left is equally as bad as the far right and everybody would do well to stay in the center claiming that the center is neutral and democratic which is that not to begin with but also which is really dangerous and i think we've seen. the effects of off this theory playing itself out really strong the with the whole political discourse shifting towards the right the i have to gaining more and more power all over germany they are now a party that is in every single parliament and every single state in germany and i think a lot of people are kind of fearfully waiting for that i have data actually become even more powerful than the german bundestag so yeah it's a very vocal worrisome development. at a local level but increasing pressure on city you politicians to cooperate with the f.d.a. argues that but not doing so ignores the will of the people begin to point. well we have to differentiate between the a.s.c. meaning the people who are sitting in the parliament party and especially during and which is the country we are talking about they are not democratic at all there is a right wing they. see in the consing or if we are talking about the people who are actually posting and i think we should all do and most of the big parties have realized is to talk to the people who actually get it but if talk about their friends some of them i choose not to see how we can address them how we can engage them back in. session this is something we should do but we should be very very clear where they got the right to not. share our democratic spending. bill that we are clear the game is racism that we are creating against the exclusion of my ideas and we have a historical legacy that we accept and forms part of our culture and here i think we need to be very clear in whom we are talking to whom we need to engage with that is the people in the county and whom we are fighting against and this is the police station that night math right. all right what happens the c.d.u. now and in which direction does it head will it stay a center right party will it become more conservative can it can it even survive this this period of turmoil intact. i don't think that anyone can currently predict in which direction it will move we believe in a pluralist system this is the decision of the members of the christian democratic union and not something like a declaration from whoever is currently in power the c.d.u. has to get its act together and decide what they want to be during the 15 years of america's leadership it moved from a conservative party to a centrist party because the german public is not as divided as in many polarized political systems where the 2 extreme poles don't even speak to each other in germany was still have a strong middle class and you win elections in the center that was strategically a smart move by mackler but the prize they pay is that the right edge of the political spectrum does not feel represented and there are growing forces within the city were and also their sister party in bavaria that want to move the party further to the right but this is an open debate within the party and it's also a strategic choice is very hard to predict so to what extent was was. announced with that she's got to step down as much a defeat for angle a merkel and her whole world view if you like of her policies as it was for. well i don't think the blame is on matter because if there is no one for many years who is potentially seeing as a successor that has the reputation and the strength and the leadership skills to follow her then choosing whoever is currently considered to be a potential candidate looks way smaller or only acceptable for a certain wing within the party and that is the strategic choice you can either go for something to continue with america's legacy or you can move for the right but that is a very tough choice you can of course win back voters that are disappointed by the centrist move of the party and move the party for the right but that makes it much more complicated for a potential scenario to join forces with the green and to continue with the green and see who cover mand in the future which is a likely scenario after playing with this ideology regional level ok. what about that the grand coalition a will elections still happen when there should yield to. next year or are we going to see an election at a federal level before that to what extent is democracy in germany right now being tested this is one of the main questions that we have to see to what extent does it happen that this next u.s. government or in that. kind of an extent come. to trying to process these processes some are on how they would use their you can do that that would then be that and that would mean. that it's just like the bank you don't want and end of next year i'm just not sure to what extent is because already in the must 2 or 3 days since they're in now and we have see these different groups in the city you have a. growing storm going to be out there and i'm not sure whether we can stain to spank you but i'm out of the i mean after 7. months i had it i mean i had it right how do you know if your party is in a pretty strong position federally is that a danger but at the moment i'd have thought that you'd be clamoring for an early election. well as i said at the moment we are very to back him up to see in germany that we are separating our protection they could to protect you that and it's also not i mean there is no guarantee if we have elections now that the greens becoming strong and that the a 50 make just one more that's one of the changes see the other day just to me is actually taking up with the european union council president is supposed to take it over in summer and their main decisions that need to be made one us how do we go on with u.k. after the bracks it and your final and decisions have to be made until the end of the us when the 7 get on to do european union and as of now everyone it's capital in a strong germany you present it to take care of that haven't put the european union to say what you said it's also endangered at the moment and that someone was concerned about democracy in the boat the strong european union i have to be frank in new directions don't sound like something great to me mona how should the bigger more established parties deal with the rise of the far right and in germany how do they neutralize them as a as an electoral threat i mean can't can't even be done. to be quite honest i'm not sure whether it can be done even though i want to have very strong recommendations i thing on how to deal with them and my very 1st recommendation would be to. maybe get into processes of seeing whether or not the f.t. could be prohibited as a party which would be not a step toward to address the problem in its totality but more to to deal with it in the short to 2 medium term duration. or time but i think one thing that is not being mentioned in this whole discussion i think that's really which is really important to mention is. maybe to not yes to worry about the development in the far right in. the yard fascist tendencies new nazi tendencies within the ira 50 but also i think on the other hand it is really important to strengthen the communities and social society groups that are being targeted by r.f.d. and to see how these communities could be supported and strengthened and i think we're always talking where we're quick to talk about how to get people to vote for a city noise pity or other so-called central part is again after they've run off and joined by 50 or watered for that i fear what i'm missing here is. an interest or a focus on people are actually targeted by the i have to buy parties that are similar to the f.t. and have also been targeted to be really frank by policies put forth by the city who and the s.p.d. as well. in switzerland poland and hungary have got nationalist and populist simply. the far right on the rise in italy and spain it fronts in the netherlands is it only a matter of time before the f.t. becomes a major political force in germany is there holding power of some sort of least regionally more or less inevitable it's not written in the book of fate that populist succeed and given the german history we come from a totally tarion past we are much more sensitive for everything that is and to democratic and to institutional highlighting the importance of a person over institutional pros who serves in the political culture where the i have tried to achieve is to disgrace politicians and focus much more on personnel than on content because they don't really have much to offer if they would have something to offer they could be part of a democratic discourse which they are not because they are destructive they inst instrumental lies institutions for a farce like in florida nya and it was a great victory for them to see a.k.k. stepping down but the actual goal is to get rid of mark of this was always the slogan from 2015 on when they hated her for being a human a tarion phase of germany that gives a helping hand to people in need and that was malcolm must go so what's the central party is the democratic party's must do is to unmask what a party that is center for big races and democratic and institutional and a lot of things that we have experience in the most worst cases in germany what they stand for and what they want ok i had a i need a fairly brief answer from you because we were rapidly coming towards the end of the program here you touched upon it in your last answer what does all of this mean feat for europe coming as you said at a time when the block is looking to germany for leadership at the post breaks at world. what it means at the moment it's more troubling quotas and i just pray that you really quickly sorted out way that jim he can be strong and you president that everybody needs to be if while that we will have to see i think then we are very right i sometimes angles of the decisions people. monthly job really think we can reach everything we should abort. and mona we talk about all of this this turmoil affecting that the c.d.u. the city used and not the only party a fact in this kind of turbulence or experiencing this kind of turbulence at the moment in germany to to what extent is is all of this a generational issue in that the established parties the largest stablish parties in germany just simply haven't moved with the times. i'm really glad that you're asking this question because i think what becomes kind of. ignored or masked or veals in this whole discussion is that we're talking about the political situation in germany as if there had always been like this democratic consensus that everybody had and now all of a sudden the i 50 comes into into the game and starts this yeah this turmoil this this kind of development where i think i would highly doubt this narrative that also always touched on off germany being super sensitive towards totalitarian or fascist tendencies than politics i would much rather say that. this type of sensitivity has always been more performative rather than actually transformative in the way that politics and parties and. societal structures and relationships are organized so i'm not actually thinking that we're yes we are in a time that could be called so mall to us but it also to me it feels like a very. yeah not to say natural but a very very clear and rational consequence of the developments that have been ignored for 4 decades past ok 30 seconds i have i have less to be left here if there were to be a national election tomorrow who would win would would have his party be in power at the head of some sort of grand coalition of an electrically at least nationally we have really a threat of the most. well at the moment it looks very much like those who understand that climate change is the priority of the time will wind their f.t.p. with their leader linton are managed to be moved back on stage again and might be moved out again i don't think that the of the will wind from the whole mess and social democrats suffered so much last year from their own problems that it's quite unlikely that they would benefit from it so yes that is what the situation is today but it can change anytime there we have to leave it many thanks indeed to all of you all rick broke the hand of the woman and mota mari and thank you for watching don't forget you can see this program again at any time just by going to the website at al-jazeera dot com for further discussion join us at our facebook page you'll find that at facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story and you can join the conversation on twitter our handle at a.j. inside story for me adrian for the good of the whole team here and so thanks for watching we'll see you again by for that. i. in an 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