Angela Merkel speaking at a political rally in Bonn

A pragmatic persona and a confident, unswerving approach towards the people of her nation is an important element of her success. She is counted among the most influential women of the world and is serving her second term as Germany’s chancellor. Angela Merkel is known for her confident speeches and the power to defend herself. She wears a broad smile on her face and half of her job to motivate her people is done.

I got a chance to attend Merkel’s recent election campaign in Bonn. It helped me understand why she was so succesful. Making her way to the podium through thousands of people, shaking hands with them and exchanging warm gestures is one way to connect with her people. In Kashmir, politicians think of themselves as royalty, who can only be seen from a distant. The question of shaking hands and exchanging smiles with their own people doesn’t even arise.

Angela Merkel has gained immense popularity because of her no-nonsense attitude and her quality of weighing her words before she speaks. This successful female politician serves as a role model to many young girls and women of the world. Her vision is clear. One of her supporters, Julia, says that she identifies with her, she wants to be a strong woman like her and she gets very inspired to see how Merkel manages to defend herself among her male colleagues.

Angela has always supported the unification of European countries for the welfare of its people. She believes in the unity of its students for better educational platforms. Although there might be some people who oppose her way of handling the government, but the power to handle every sort of criticism and to take it positively is what makes her different. She has been accused of defending the elite and ignoring the lower classes. Her opponents also accuse her of spending fewer funds on education.

No one is perfect and the same is the case with Angela Merkel, but the amount of work she has done for her people is remarkable and cannot be ignored. Apart from her disagreements with gay marriages which have offended the people of that section of the society, Angela still has numerous followers who wish her for her third consecutive term in office. Her contribution to the environmental issues is remarkable. Within the European Union and internationally she has tried to be successful in receiving the accords on measures that would diminish greenhouse gas emissions.

Maintaining the power in this male dominant society is a herculean task to accomplish. She has inspired a lot of women to be independent and competent. There are very few dynamic and receptive politicians in world. The politicians in my part of the world are busy making their own castles rather then thinking about people. Our politicians in power who present themselves as the well wishers of the people are nothing but narcissistic and egotistical.

Author: Isra Bhat

Editor: Manasi Gopalakrishnan

Isra Bhat is a research scholar at the University of Kashmir in Srinagar. She has been awarded a two-month long fellowship by the Friedrich Ebert foundation (FES) in Germany and is currently in DW, Bonn. You can get in touch with Isra at isra.amin14@gmail.com.