In Germany, a victory for Angela Merkel and populism

As anticipated, Angela Merkel’s party came in first in the German national election on Sunday, assuring her of a fourth term as chancellor. That much was foreordained, even if Ms Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats and their Bavarian allies came in slightly below expectations, with roughly a third of the vote.

Ms Merkel’s bland slogan — “For a Germany where life is good and we enjoy it” — summed up a campaign that promised to continue the reassuring blend of moderation, stability, dignity and determined centrism that “Mutti” (mommy) has steadfastly pursued in an era of extremist politics. It was reassuring, too, for the outside world, in which the chancellor has provided consistent leadership in European integration, compassion toward refugees, liberal democracy and Western values. But in a country where coalition governments are the norm, voting is only the start of a process that can take months before a government emerges. Here Ms Merkel faces a formidable challenge.

For starters, for the first time in German post-World War II history, a far-right, anti-Muslim, anti-European Union party — the Alternative for Germany — garnered enough votes, more than 13 percent, to enter Parliament. That in itself is not surprising at a time when populist parties have made gains across Europe and in the United States. But the emergence of a nationalist party, one of whose leaders thinks Germans should be proud of their soldiers in both world wars, has been a source of distress.

The politically greater challenge before Ms. Merkel is the loss of her coalition partner, the Social Democrats, whose years in coalition with Ms. Merkel’s conservative C.D.U. eroded their socialist identity. Ms. Merkel has little choice but to seek a coalition with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democratic Party. Joining with two such diverse parties will take some complex horse trading, and the resulting team could prove unstable.

In her victory statement, Ms. Merkel spoke of bringing back the discontented voters who cast their ballots for Alternative for Germany.

Hopefully, that goal — and negotiations with potential coalition partners — will not entail erosion of the values the chancellor has defended in the past. Since accepting more than a million refugees in 2015, Ms. Merkel’s government sharply reduced the flow, partly through a deal with Turkey that has been criticized by human rights groups.

Her handling of that, or any challenge she has faced, is open to criticism. But her non-ideological leadership has helped Germany, Europe and the world. Its continuation counterbalances the demagogy loosed on the world.

© The New York Times