It’s farewell to Kohl

It was a crushing rejection for Kohl, who had hoped to lead Germany into the 21st century, and through two enormous projects he was instrumental in setting in motion: the government’s return to Berlin, its pre-war capital, and the introduction of Europe’s common currency, the Euro.

With his defeat, he is even relinquishing control of his Christian Democratic Party which he has ruled since 1973.

His eyes were watery, and his lips more pronounced than usual as he took the stage at his Christian Democratic Partyheadquarters last night to concede defeat. “It’s a difficult night,” Kohl said, “… certainly for me.”

Thunderous applause from a packed audience greeted the chancellor. And the chants of “Helmut, Helmut” recalled the voices of East Germans eight years ago when the “unification chancellor” visited them for the first time after the fall of the Berlin wall.

That was the brightest moment in Kohl’s political career, but not the only significant change he brought to Germans struggling to recover from World War II.

He pushed to strengthen the European Union and sent German troops overseas for the first time since the war, as UN peacekeepers. But his achievements abroad may have been at the expense of Germans at home, frustrated at unemployment stubbornly fixed above ten per cent.

People called him "the fat one” or "the old one”, but the apparently disrespectful nicknames were often tinged with affection for a leader who has represented stability.

Kohl, 68, had campaigned on his image ofexperience and clout with world powers, hoping Germans would want more of the same. But many first-time voters, who have known no other chancellor, voted strongly for a change. And they were not the only ones.

Voters appeared to think Kohl and his party had run out of new ideas for solving Germany’s problems. In regions of high unemployment, support for Kohl dropped ten per cent from the last election. Exit polls showed 43 per cent of voters felt the Social Democrats could fix unemployment, compared to just 28 per cent for the Christian Democrats.

One measure of the depth of Kohl’s defeat: He even lost to the Social Democrats in his Rhine river hometown of Ludwigshafen, in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

It was here that he built his political career.

Kohl entered politics at the age of 16, when he co-founded the youth wing of the Christian Democratic Union Party in his hometown, as political life resumed following the Nazi defeat.

In 1969, he was elected governor of the state. Hebecame leader of the Christian Democrats in 1973. He was elected chancellor in 1982, winning on promises of a pro-market economic “turnaround” to combat unemployment.

Kohl’s best years were during Europe’s conservative days of the 1980s. But as Europe’s mood shifted to the Left, with Tony Blair taking power in Britain and Lionel Jospin in France, Kohl had become a lonely relic.

Germans, too, decided it was time for a new era. They voted him out, ironically, over the same economic and employment issues that helped bring him to power.

Kohl loyalists watched the preliminary results showing a clear Social Democrat victory with disbelief.

“It couldn’t be worse for Kohl,” Utta Schweireinz sighed. “Things are going to change now.”

Kohl admitted as much on German TV hours later, but sounded almost relieved. “I’m now going to live my life, just the way I want it,” the outgoing chancellor said. “After many years of enormous stress, it’s going to be a great pleasure.”