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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 11 February 2020
German politics upended as

Merkel's heir apparent quits

By FRANK JORDANS tian Democratic Union leg- But any shift to the right by
Associated Press islators there voted with the Christian Democrats
BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor the far-right Alternative for could trigger a breakup of
Angela Merkel's heir ap- Germany party (AfD) last Merkel's federal coalition
parent shook up German week to oust a left-wing with the center-left Social
politics Monday by declar- incumbent. The CDU rep- Democrats and increase
ing she would step down as resentatives not only de- the chances of an early na-
the governing party's lead- fied Kramp-Karrenbauer's tional election. "If it's up to
er and not run for chan- advance appeals and un- me, it won't have any effect
cellor, fueling uncertainty dermined her leadership, on the stability of the grand German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and CDU party
in the country seen as Eu- but broke what is widely coalition," Kramp-Karren- chairwoman and Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer,
rope's anchor of stability regarded as a taboo in bauer said after announc- left, attend a party's board meeting at the headquarters in Berlin,
amid Brexit and pressure post-war German politics ing her planned withdraw- Germany, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020. Associated Press
from the far right. Anne- around cooperating with al. Florian Hense, an analyst
gret Kramp-Karrenbauer, extremist parties. at Hamburg-based private leadership by Kramp-Kar- The Alternative for Germa-
whose flagging support "The AfD stands against bank Berenberg, said the renbauer in 2018. Armin Las- ny welcomed Kramp-Kar-
dropped further after re- everything we as the CDU Social Democrats "would chet, the governor of North renbauer's resignation, as
gional Christian Democrat- represent," Kramp-Karren- have little to gain from pro- Rhine-Westphalia, Germa- did Germany's former do-
ic Union lawmakers ignored bauer told reporters Mon- voking early elections." But ny's most populous state, is mestic intelligence head,
the party's instructions, told day in Berlin. leading figures in Merkel's also being mentioned as a Hans-Georg Maassen, a
senior CDU members she Manfred Weber, a German party expressed concerns possible contender. vocal figure on the right
would not seek the chan- member of the European about fallout from the an- While Spahn and Laschet of Merkel's party since his
cellorship in next year's de- Union parliament who nouncement. are considered centrists, ouster as Germany's spy
cision. The surprise decision leads a center-right bloc Peter Altmaier, Germany's Merz has tried to appeal chief in 2018.
upended Merkel's plans to in the EU legislature, told economy minister and to the conservative wing Alternative for Germany
hand Kramp-Karrenbau- daily newspaper Welt that a close Merkel ally, said of the party that has flirted has established itself as
er the reins of power af- the situation in Thuringia re- the Christian Democrats with the far-right Alterna- a powerful far-right force
ter more than 15 years as flected a Europe that "is in were in "an unusually seri- tive for Germany. A lawyer since its founding in 2013,
chancellor. "I took note a phase of growing insta- ous situation." Recent polls once tipped to lead the taking double-digit shares
of this decision with the ut- bility; politics is becoming had Merkel's conservative party in the early 2000s, of the vote in regional and
most respect, but I also say more serious." block at about 28% sup- Merz was sidelined by national elections. Its suc-
that I regret it," Merkel told "In general. it is a sign of port nationally, followed Merkel before she became cess has complicated Ger-
reporters, thanking Kramp- growing instability among by the left-leaning Greens chancellor in 2005. many's political tradition of
Karrenbauer for her work the parties of the middle all at about 22%. The Social Bavarian governor Markus governing with multi-party
and for agreeing to stay on across Europe. The parties of Democrats are struggling Soeder, the leader of the coalitions, as most of its ri-
until a new party leader is the middle must draw their with only about 14% sup- Christian Social Union, the vals have ruled out working
chosen. Kramp-Karrenbau- red line to those with radical port, about the same as Bavarian-only sister party with Alternative for Germa-
er plans to remain in her right tendencies,"Weber the far-right Alternative for to Merkel's CDU, is also the ny. The far-right party has
role as Germany's defense said. "This approach from Germany. focus of some speculation. successfully wielded popu-
minister. Kramp-Karrenbauer was Among the names current- Merkel's spokesman Stef- list tactics, emphasizing
The announcement fol- and is correct." Merkel has ly being bandied around fen Seibert told reporters national self-interest and
lowed days of in-fighting said she will not run for a as future CDU party lead- in Berlin that she stood by immigration controls while
within the party over the fifth term in Germany's next ers are Health Minister Jens her decision not to run for tolerating anti-Semitism
election of a governor in general election, which is Spahn and Friedrich Merz, a fifth term in 2021, despite and historical revisionism
the state of Thuringia. Chris- now scheduled for fall 2021. who were beaten to the the latest development. among its members.q

Faulty app exposes millions of Israeli voters’ data

By ILAN BEN ZION year. Netanyahu is seek- against Netanyahu’s main tion the Likud Party used with access to this infor-
Associated Press ing reelection for a fourth opponent, Blue and White called Elector, which was mation.”
JERUSALEM (AP) — A secu- consecutive term as pre- party leader Benny Gantz, designed by the Israeli “It was very easy to get
rity breach in an app used mier on March 2 after two claiming the former army software company Feed- the data. Anyone with a
by Israel’s ruling conserva- elections in 2019 yielded chief’s phone had been back. regular web browser could
tive party has exposed the inconclusive results. hacked by Iranian intelli- Noam Rotem, an Israeli se- have done it,” he told The
personal information of The Likud party acknowl- gence. curity researcher who first Associated Press.
nearly 6.5 million Israelis to edged that it had “thwart- The information included revealed the data breach Israeli political parties re-
hackers, a cybersecurity ed an attempt” to dam- the names, addresses, ID on his podcast “Cyber ceive the personal data of
expert said Monday. age a digital platform numbers, and polling sta- Cyber,” said he received voters from the the Cen-
The applications is used for used to recruit party sup- tions of eligible Israeli vot- an anonymous tip from tral Elections Committee
campaign management porters on election day. ers — and in some cases a hacker, which he later ahead of elections for in-
by the Likud party, head- The party did not respond their phone number, gen- confirmed independently. ternal campaign purposes
ed by Israeli Prime Minister to inquiries about the data der and whether they Rotem said that while it re- on condition that the data
Benjamin Netanyahu. breach. were potential Likud vot- mained uncertain wheth- remains private.
News of the data breach The discovery is particular- ers. er Israelis’ personal data Neither Feedback nor
comes just weeks before ly embarrassing for the Li- The voter roll data was had been exploited, “it is Elector’s app designer Tzur
Israelis go to the polls for kud party after it waged a exposed due to faulty very likely to assume that Yamin responded to re-
the third time in under a smear campaign last year security on an applica- we are not the only ones quests for comment.q