A Young Economist to Face Incumbent German Chancellor in the Electoral District
A Russian newspaper has reported that George Günther is the new candidate in the German federal parliamentary elections against Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The newspaper "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" says in an article that the 33-year-old economist, Günther, could provide an opportunity for young cadres to participate in the elections.
According to Alexander Samognev's article, Günther will replace Merkel in the federal parliamentary elections in September 2021 in the traditional CDU constituency on the island of Rügen.
The writer pointed out in his article that when photographers and media people visit Georg Günther, he always takes them to the office of the Christian Democratic Union branch in the German city of Grimen, a small town located south of Stralsund.
In the office there are several election posters, one of which depicts Angela Merkel at a young age.
When a young tax inspector spoke of the chancellor, he would always call her "Mrs. Dr. Merkel." As for the election campaign, it is "a curse and a blessing," as the writer says.
"It's good that people expect something from me, but I'm Georg Günther, not Angela Merkel," George said. In this case, defeat would be seen as very troublesome.
The writer spoke of Merkel winning the 15th electoral district about eight times in a row, which is called "West Pomerania - Rügen, West Pomerania - Greifswald 1".
It is one of the largest and most densely populated regions in Germany. In 2013, the chancellor won 56 percent of the first vote, and in 2017, 44 percent.
Merkel's History
Angela Merkel ended up joining this constituency by chance after German reunification in 1990.
Merkel was born in Hamburg and raised in the Uckermark district of Brandenburg, and she still has a home there until now. She has lived in Berlin since her school days.
But at the time, the CDU found no constituency in any of these places, and then one of her party mates advised her to turn her attention to the Vorpommern.
The writer adds in his article that Merkel, well known in Rügen, Greifswald and Stralsund. She still maintains her office in the constituency.
When she invited then-President George W. Bush to a wild boar barbecue in 2006, she did so in her constituency.
The writer mentioned that Merkel, the first female chancellor in German history, began her political career in the German Democratic Republic.
Merkel, a certified physicist, defended her thesis at the Central Institute of Physical Chemistry at the Academy of Sciences of the German Democratic Republic in 1986.
Three years later, she retired from science and physics and joined the newly created Democratic Awakening Movement.
In 1990, after German reunification, Democratic Progress became part of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Her Career
In the same year, Merkel decided to run for the German parliament - the Bundestag in the first joint elections.
Merkel received 48.5 percent of the vote in her constituency in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
On January 18, 1991, she entered the government of Helmut Kohl, taking the position of Minister for Women and Youth Affairs.
After the next elections in the Bundestag, which were held on October 16, 1994, in the new Kohl government, Merkel received the portfolio of the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
In 2000, after the scandal of illegal funding of the CDU, Helmut Kohl and Wolfgang Schäuble left their positions in the party leadership.
Merkel led the Christian Democratic Union, from 2002 to 2005, when she was the leader of the opposition in the Bundestag.
In 2005, Angela Merkel became the first female chancellor in German history. In 2017, she became prime minister for the fourth time.
Thus, the selection of the candidate for the federal parliamentary elections becomes very important, and the issue is not expected to be resolved very quickly, but the coalition may give indications of the general direction, especially after Georg Gunther gave his opinion.
