Germany’s 2021 national election campaign to replace #Angela #Merkel as chancellor
became a competition among various candidates to imitate her cautious political style.
The ultimate winner of the election—#Olaf #Scholz, the leader of the Social Democratic Party—demonstrated his affinity by avoiding any hint of polarizing rhetoric during the campaign.
He even adopted Merkel’s signature hand gesture from photo ops and press conferences,
pressing together his fingertips from opposite hands to form what had come to be known as the “#Merkel #rhombus.”
But in the immediate post-Merkel era, it was not her many imitators, but rather Scholz’s vice chancellor and minister for economics and climate change,
the 53-year-old Green Party leader #Robert #Habeck, who emerged as the country’s most popular politician.
For years previous, Habeck had been the most prominent exception to the trend of Merkel mimicry on Germany’s political scene.
Whereas Merkel offered agendas comprised of a series of small incremental steps,
Habeck preferred to start political discussions with an abstract analysis of the status quo.
Whereas Merkel would justify policies by presenting them as lacking any viable alternative,
Habeck declared that “nothing is alternative-less.” ...
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/09/27/climate-politics-environment-germany-robert-habeck/