As Merkel says goodbye to Facebook, refugees & terrorism divide her party

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has posted a video to announce the closure of her Facebook page after stepping down as head of her party. Merkel handed the leadership of Germany's centre-right Christian Democratic Union to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in December.

New CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has said she wants a "comprehensive review" of Germany's immigration system. Contradicting Angela Merkel, the new party leader said scrutiny of the fateful year of 2015 was necessary.

"We will look at the entire immigration issue, from the protection of the external border to asylum procedures and integration, from the perspective of effectiveness" Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said.

Kramp-Karrenbauer said the party would review the immigration system at a planned workshop in February.

Immigration has dominated German politics since the migration crisis. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has enjoyed repeated electoral successes across the country on the back of an ardent anti-migration platform.

The statements made by the new CDU leader were highly welcomed by the man in the street. The refugees and terrorism issues could have cost the party the majority in the general elections held in September 2017.  For the first time since World War II a right-wing party has reached the German parliament.

Germany’s policy on refugees has gone through dramatic transformations. In 2015, Germans welcomed refugees with flowers, and volunteers handed out material assistance and emotional support to them.

In 2017, polls showed that the CDU’s popularity was going down as Germans were supporting the right-wing. That was a dangerous indication for party. In September 2017,  

The far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 90 seats in the Bundestag, out of 589 seats, ranking third in the political forces represented in parliament.