The taxpayer’s association account – this is how much Merkel will get after she is gone

Pension entitlements are regulated by law. As for their membership in the Bundestag, they stand in the Law of Deputies, and their membership in the Federal Government in the Federal Ministers Act. According to Article 20 of the Members Act, Merkel, for example, is entitled to a maximum of 65 percent of members’ allowance for about 31 years in Parliament. However, different pension benefits are offset with each other.

Like all former chancellors and former federal presidents, a CDU politician is also entitled to a position. An office manager, speakers, printer and driver are also funded.

The race for the successor is fully open

Six weeks before citizens are called to the polls for federal elections, there is no longer any clear candidate in the polls. Many different government alliances can be imagined.

The election revolves around Angela Merkel’s successor, who will not run again. According to the polls, it is by no means certain that the Chancellery will remain in the hands of the Christian Democrats, who have appointed the chancellor for 52 of the 72 years since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949.

In a recent Forsa poll, the CDU/CSU, currently the strongest force in the country, fell to 23 percent. By weekly comparison, this means a loss of three times, and since mid-July up to seven percentage points.

As in most other polls, the Greens remain the second strongest party, ahead of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Liberals (FDP), the right-wing populist AfD and Die Linke. In the next national parliament, at least three parties will have to join forces in order to achieve a majority.

In “Bild am Sonntag” Laschet said he was betting on an election campaign that would make the differences between the parties clear. Talk about a “historic choice.”

Chancellor Laschet will likely stand behind his party colleague Merkel with more force for continuity in Europe’s largest economy. When it comes to major foreign and European policy issues, there are no major differences between most of the other parties either. However, the left resists military operations abroad, which makes it difficult for a green-red-red coalition to form if it comes to an arithmetic majority.

The Greens, the SPD and the left want to ask the country’s rich to pay more taxes with a higher income tax and wealth tax. Liberals oppose any tax increase and promise to exempt citizens. The Greens want the Environment Ministry with the right to veto bills that do not comply with the 2015 Paris climate agreement. In addition, the environmental side wants to introduce a speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour on German motorways as soon as possible. Coalition negotiations will then decide whether or not they can enforce it.