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Why did Angela Merkel publicly call on Helmut Kohl to step aside in 1999?
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Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel, the first woman to serve as chancellor of Germany, 2012.
In late 1999, a major finance scandal emerged involving the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), in which former chancellor Helmut Kohl was implicated for the acceptance and use of illegal campaign contributions.12
In response to this crisis, Angela Merkel—who had served as a minister under Kohl and was often referred to as "Kohl's girl"—published an open letter on December 22, 1999. In this letter, she publicly called on the party to make a fresh start and move forward without its honorary chairman, Helmut Kohl. This decisive action was intended to distance the party from the scandal and facilitate a new beginning for the CDU, ultimately increasing Merkel's own visibility and popularity with the German public.1