Angela Merkel's coalition

"What's happening now to nothing with do," Diederich said. "It's only going to be ready for the upcoming Bavarian state elections."

Which strategy has not been successful, according to recent polls in Bavaria, which shows a 1.9 percent drop in support for the CDU / CSU coalition, compared with a 2.4 percent

Markus Söder The Bavarian state premiere – Seehofer's rival in the party – told reporters Monday that he was "very surprised" about Seehofer's offer to step down from his ministerial position. Söder suggests that the party would be better served than compromised rather than breaking the coalition

An exit from government would mean a loss of influence in Berlin, he noted. "One thing is very clear: the stability of the government is not a question for us," he told German news on Monday. "One can reach a lot within a government, but not outside of it."

The real victor of the latest standoff, however, could far-right anti-immigrant AfD. Its leaders are actively framing the fight between Seehofer and Merkel as a confirmation of their long-term criticism of self-serving, opportunistic political establishment. The party's harsh anti-migrant stanzas, an ounce banished to the fringes of public discourse,

"It's a process of self-delegitimization that's going on among the establishment," said Michael Koß, a political scientist at the University of Munich, referring to the spat inside the coalition. "The AfD always claimed that the establishment of politicians was only for their own good, and currently I have to say I agree."

For its part, the AfD was in no hurry to attack Seehofer's drama Monday morning. 19659017] "Horst Seehofer and the CSU have been staging a miserable and slimy theater," wrote Alice Weidel, the AfD's leader, in a statement published on Facebook. "The back and forth and the resignation of the resignation of the interior minister were merely staged."

She then reiterated the anti-migrant party stance that has so far worked for it. "The AfD is the only power that can bring this asylum chaos under control."

In fact, the number of asylum seekers in Germany has fallen dramatically to pre-2015 levels, thanks in part to Merkel's more restrictive policies in recent years

[Migrants say these mass shelters are like prisons. Germany wants to build more.]

Whether the AfD will continue to be able to capitalize on the coalition's crisis remains to be seen, but what seems most certain that it is trying to win back voters from the AfD and Merkel challenge, Seehofer miscalculated his hand.

] In the past, Merkel, who has been Germany's chancellor since 2005, often thwarted her opponents by assuming their positions, but on migration she can not do that to the same extent. Although some of the controversial claims have been made, Merkel has also patently refused to appeal the 2015 influx of migrants to the same anti-migrant rhetoric of her hard line allies [19659022] "She's in the final phase of her political career. She said to be remembered as a great European, or the honorable grandchild of Helmut Kohl, "said Werner Weidenfeld, a German political scientist

" That's why this political debate has a different dimension, "he said.

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