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For a total of 16 years, Angela Merkel has guided the fortunes of the Federal Republic of Germany as chancellor. On Tuesday, the chancellor has now been officially dismissed by the Bundestag. However, Merkel will continue to hold the office of chancellor. For her authority ends only when the newly elected Chancellor takes office. When this will be is still uncertain. Currently, the Koalitiosnverhandlungen to form a new government between SPD, FDP and Greens.
First session of the new Bundestag ends the era of Angela Merkel
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On Tuesday, the first session of the new Bundestag took place in Berlin, On this occasion, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was ceremoniously dismissed by German President Frank-Walter-Steinmeier. This marks the end of Angela Merkel’s term in office after 16 years at the head of the German government. However, Merkel will still hold her office for some time longer.
And so long until the coalition partners SPD, FDP and Greens have agreed on a new government. Until that time, both the chancellor and all current federal ministers will remain in office. However, as of now Merkel is only acting chancellor and must relinquish at least some of her power. What exactly the Chancellor may and may not now is regulated in the Basic Law. Paragraph 69, paragraph 3 states:
“At the request of the Federal President, the Federal Chancellor […] is obliged to continue the business until the appointment of his successor.”
Merkel’s time in the chancellery extends
So Merkel’s departure from the chancellery is likely to drag on for some time. Should the formation of the government take a similarly long time as 4 years ago, then the Chancellor would have another six months ahead of her. But the current coalition partners say that an agreement on forming a government should be reached by the end of November at the latest. Since German reunification, the timeframe to form a government has always been between 30 and 171 days. So in an extreme case, Merkel could be able to keep her post for a little while longer. In general, Merkel could continue to govern as before. Her powers hardly change until through the dismissal. However, it is considered political practice that the acting chancellor holds back with regard to important decisions until the successor is in office. Only in the respect of the vote of confidence Merkel is restricted in the future. The current legal opinion states namely that it is not possible for the acting chancellor to ask the question of confidence. With this, namely, the parliament could be dissolved, which would automatically lead to new elections. DIt is interpreted in this way, because the caretaker Chancellor has theoretically never received the confidence of the MPs.
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