NATO deadly blitz in Afghanistan ‘may affect German election’
Posted by seumasach on September 7, 2009
7th September, 2009
The recent deadly air raids in Afghanistan by NATO forces might influence German electorates’ opinion in the upcoming national election, European media outlets suggest.
German media coverage of Friday’s NATO bombing in Afghanistan, in which 90 people including dozens of civilians were killed, has demonstrated that the country’s press blame the German government for the attack as it ordered US fighter jets to run the operation, according to Euronews.
The latest development is seen as a major blow to the ruling Christian Democrats Party (CDU) under Chancellor Angela Merkel as opposition to Germany’s participation in NATO’s Afghanistan mission gains momentum ahead of the September 27 national vote meant to select the next ruling party, Time magazine reported.
Major opposition parties including Social Democrats Party (SDP) under Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the Green Party are using the latest airstrike debacle in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz as leverage against Merkel’s CDU in order to overpower the governing coalition during the next national ballot due in three weeks’ time.
Steinmeier’s party has called for a timetable demonstrating a definite date for the withdrawal of German troops while the CDU maintains that the country’s soldiers might remain on Afghan soil for the next five to ten years.
According to a Time magazine report, around 65 percent of Germans have called for a speedy return of their soldiers from Afghanistan.
