The German President: Positioning a Platform : (Page 3)
January 1, 2012The German Presidency has usually been seen as somewhat above the political fray. While that has meant that the office has been somewhat powerless – without much leverage or patronage – its success has nevertheless been a function of the skills of the President to deliver a persuasive message to the Republic. Since most of that travels through the media, it has been important for the President to maintain a public image with which he can persuade, prod and promote. President Wulff appears to be in damage control mode with the media for now.
Given her personal popularity, Chancellor Merkel will be critically important to how quickly Wulff can regain his footing. At the same time, Chancellor Merkel’s success to date is in no small measure a function of her ability to stay above political infighting as far as possible. She will need to navigate through this current storm carefully to assure her own political position.
Christian Wulff remains the main determiner of the success or shortcomings of the current Presidency. The Presidential office itself, after sixty two years and ten occupants, represents more than just ceremonial exercise. In light of the need for a strong national purpose in dealing with serious challenges ahead, it can remain an important source of inspiration. That is a rare commodity in today’s politically fragmented culture on both sides of the Atlantic.
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The author failed to mention that Germany’s politicians, Chancellor Merkel in particular, have politicized the position and office of the President by choosing candidates for their political orientation or for other purposes ( such as removing them as potential political rivals).
Although Wulff’s missteps are considerably more lamentable than those of previous presidents this is no excuse for him or the author to assume that he could survive and remain in office. The President and politicians have lost any feeling for even remotely being aware how damaging his behavior has been in contributing to a further decline in the political and moral culture…they think they are immune to this. The President of the Swiss National Bank just resigned over an affair caused by his wife, not by his own actions. Could Germany aspire one day to such standards?
Scandals, small and large, loom big in all mature democracies because moral standards have been raised high. This in itself should be a sign of confidence and inspiration for citizens. Nobody is perfect but the vast majority of voters demand near perfect comportment on the part of the governing class. So long as the electorate gets exercised about the occasional mishaps, the future of democracy is assured.
The author should have mentioned that his research institution, AICGS, more than twenty years ago published a good study of the Presidency as an institution,long before it became a focus of media attention resulting from the missteps of Rau and Wulff,
Hallo Ulrich,
Please contact Georgios Stamatis for his opinion about the issue.
Regards
Wolfram