MERKEL REJECTS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE OVER EASTER LOCKDOWN REVERSAL

Thu 25 March 2021:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would not initiate a confidence vote in her government in the parliament over the situation around the coronavirus-linked Easter lockdown.

In an embarrassing U-turn, Merkel told a news conference on Wednesday she had reconsidered forcing Germany into a five-day “Easter rest” from Thursday next week, saying there was not enough time for logistical preparations. She said the entire plan was her mistake. After that three German political parties – the liberal Free Democratic Party, left-wing Die Linke and the euroskeptic Alternative for Germany – called on Merkel to initiate a confidence vote.

“No, I will not do that … Today, I have apologized to people for the mistake.

I believe that this was the right move. I enjoy the support of the whole Federal government and parliament in other issues. There is no need in that and I will not do that,” Merkel told Das Erste broadcaster on late Wednesday when asked about the calls for the confidence vote.

The chancellor added that the main goal for the country was to cope with the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Support for Merkel’s conservatives and their centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners is falling six months before a general election in which both parties are forecast to suffer record-low results.

Germans, who in four successive elections had put their faith in her steady hands to guard their interests during the Greek debt euro zone financial crises, are growing frustrated with her inability to draw a clear path out of the pandemic.

Merkel, who will step down before the general election in September after four terms, agreed early this week to call on citizens to stay at home for five days over Easter.

The measure would have meant all stores, including essential ones, closing for an extra day on April 1.

The plan was welcomed by doctors and hospitals who fear rising infection numbers would stretch intensive care units that have been saving lives for more than a year. It was rejected by business groups who had hoped a lockdown in place since November would translate into a reopening over Easter.

“The idea of an Easter shutdown was drafted with the best of intentions. We urgently need to stop and reverse the third wave,” Merkel told the news conference.

But it was not possible to implement the measures so quickly, Merkel said, apologising for the added uncertainty that it had caused Germans.

“This mistake is mine alone,” said Merkel, setting a contrite tone only the second time in her 12 years as chancellor. “I ask all citizens for forgiveness.”

In 2016, one year before a general election that won her a fourth term, she apologised during a conservative party conference for opening Germany’s doors in 2015 to almost one million migrants, mainly Muslim asylum seekers from Syria.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. To date, more than 124.68 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 2.74 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Germany has confirmed over 2.7 million COVID-19 cases so far, with more than 75,000 fatalities.

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