Toughest term - Merkel faces challenges

Angela Merkel is nothing if not resolute.

Germany’s “mutti” (or Mum) is the longest-serving consecutive European leader, having been in the job since 2005 when her centre-right CDU/CSU party formed a grand coalition with the social democratic party, the SPD. This was followed by a win in 2009 and a coalition with the liberal FPD, and another win in 2013 along with another grand coalition.

While she has dominated Germany’s political landscape and steered the European Union through economic crises, her fourth term is set to be her most difficult.

She must now juggle competing domestic demands between left and right-wing elements in her government while negotiating Brexit and the EU’s trade stand-off with the United States.

As an “Ossi” who grew up in communist-ruled East Germany and experienced life under a repressive regime, she is unlikely to be phased by such tasks.

As the world’s most powerful woman, she must now prove she is up to the job.