Angela Merkel is Time Person of the Year 2015, Islamic State leader al-Baghdadi takes second place

New York: Time magazine Wednesday named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as its Person of the Year 2015 , hailing her leadership during Europe’s debt, refugee and migrant crises, as well as Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. “For asking more of her country than most politicians would dare, for standing firm against tyranny as well as expedience and for providing steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply, Angela Merkel is Time’s Person of the Year,” wrote editor Nancy Gibbs. [caption id=“attachment_1718301” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] German chancellor Angela Merkel. Reuters[/caption] The venerable American magazine lauded Merkel as the indispensable player in managing the prospect of Greek bankruptcy threatening the eurozone, and the migrant and refugee crisis. Time named Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State extremist group, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, America’s Black Lives Matter activists campaigning against inequality against African Americans and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as its runners up. Trump responded in what else but typically Trumpian fashion.

The bombastic 69-year-old billionaire real estate mogul was unrepentant even as criticism rained down from the White House and as far afield as Ottawa, London and Cairo, where Egypt’s official religious body Dar al-Iftaa denounced his “extremist and racist” comments. Trump has called for banning all Muslims from entering the United States. So, how did this foreign policy tin drum get to be a runner-up for Time person of the year, which he claims he should have won? The Economist puts it best in its latest issue to hit the stands: “By far the most common explanation for this strange loyalty was that Mr Trump “tells it like it is”. That seemed to confuse plain language, which Mr Trump is good at (“Listen you motherf***ers, we’re going to tax you 25 percent” is how he would talk to China), with plain speaking. He does not go in for that. Not even he could believe the nonsense he spouts. Yet for most of his supporters, Mr Trump’s larger-than-lifeness bridges the credulity gap. The person of the year accolade acknowledges what the magazine considers to be the world’s biggest newsmaker, or influential mover. Since the tradition began in 1927, Merkel is only the fourth woman to win. Last year, healthcare workers treating the Ebola epidemic were honored. In 2013, it was Pope Francis. President Barack Obama has won twice. Throughout the eurozone crisis, when a battered continent looked to Berlin, Merkel has preached fiscal discipline and kept a tight grip on the nation’s purse strings, soothing the angst of a thrifty populace. On track for million asylum seekers This summer the usually cautious leader took perhaps the biggest gamble of her career by throwing open Germany’s doors to asylum seekers — owning an issue set to define her legacy. Germany announced on Monday that it has welcomed more than 960,000 asylum seekers in 2015, putting it on track for a million arrivals this year, as conflicts rage in Syria, the Middle East and Afghanistan. In Europe, a spokesman for Merkel welcomed the accolade, and EU president Donald Tusk offered his congratulations, his spokesperson said. In the past Time has showed its editorial teeth by naming sinister figures — Adolf Hitler in 1938 and Joseph Stalin both in 1939 and 1942. A Lutheran pastor’s daughter, 61-year-old Merkel grew up behind the Iron Curtain and was first elected chancellor in 2005. She has been praised by refugees as “Mama Merkel” and derided by others as the eurozone’s “austerity priestess.” But her stunning ascent from communist East Germany defies political convention. “The prospect of Greek bankruptcy threatened the very existence of the euro zone. The migrant and refugee crisis challenged the principle of open borders. And finally, the carnage in Paris revived the reflex to slam doors, build walls and trust no one,” Gibbs wrote Wednesday. Not taking the easy road “Each time Merkel stepped in. Germany would bail Greece out, on her strict terms. It would welcome refugees as casualties of radical Islamist savagery, not carriers of it,” she added. “You can agree with her or not, but she is not taking the easy road. Leaders are tested only when people don’t want to follow.” Seemingly indifferent to the trappings of power and lacking vanity, she lives in a Berlin flat with her rarely seen scientist husband Joachim Sauer. She shops in a neighbourhood supermarket and spends holidays hiking in the Alps. Her oratory is often monotonous and she is awkward in front of the cameras, but it is this air of ordinariness that has made Merkel a hit with German voters, who value no-nonsense pragmatism and competence. A star student at school, she excelled in Russian, which she has put to use in defusing the Ukraine conflict with President Vladimir Putin, who was a KGB officer in East Germany when the Wall fell in 1989. Time magazine said the German chancellor had “stepped in” every time a serious crisis had threatened European statecraft this year. “The prospect of Greek bankruptcy threatened the very existence of the euro zone. The migrant and refugee crisis challenged the principle of open borders. And finally, the carnage in Paris revived the reflex to slam doors, build walls and trust no one,” Gibbs wrote. “Each time Merkel stepped in. Germany would bail Greece out, on her strict terms. It would welcome refugees as casualties of radical Islamist savagery, not carriers of it.” French economist Thomas Piketty in an interview to Firstpost alluded to Germany’s immigration policy. He said that he believes that one of the reasons why Germany is welcoming immigrants is because, “Germans don’t have many children. The population is on the decline. I think that Europe as a whole needs to open borders.” A pastor’s daughter who grew up behind the Iron Curtain, the 61-year-old Merkel made an unprecedented journey to become chancellor, in power for 10 years, and the world’s most powerful woman. Here are the past five Time Persons of The Year: