--- description: Angela Merkel called for a burqa ban so as to prevent as she made her pitch on Tuesday for a fourth term as German Chancellor title: German Chancellor Angela Merkel Calls For Burqa Ban image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfce6f956afb19522/6988b0d8656a3f103ebce131/angela-merkel-burqa.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Angela Merkel, Seeking Re-Election, Calls For Burqa Ban by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:04 PM CUTPublished: Dec 6, 2016 1:32 PM CUT  German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses delegates during her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party's congress in Essen, western Germany, on December 6, 2016. German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses delegates during her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party's congress in Essen, western Germany, on December 6, 2016.Tobias Schwarz—AFP/Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:04 PM CUTPublished: Dec 6, 2016 1:32 PM CUT [Angela Merkel ](http://time.com/4499087/angela-merkel-berlin-cdu-elections/ "undefined")called for a ban on the burqa, a full-face veil worn mainly by Muslim women, in order to prevent “any parallel societies developing” as her party re-elected her leader to seek a fourth term as [German Chancellor](http://time.com/4499087/angela-merkel-berlin-cdu-elections/ "undefined"). “In communication between people, which is of course essential to our living together, we have to show our faces,” she told delegates at the annual Christian Democrats (CDU) party conference in the northwestern city of Essen. “So the full veil should be forbidden wherever legally possible.” Merkel was re-elected chairman of the CDU at Tuesday’s annual conference, and will seek re-election as Chancellor in a vote scheduled for fall 2017, where her ruling coalition is expected to face a challenge by right-wing populists Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). The party has gone further in calling for limits on shows of Islamic faith, proposing a ban in May on all minarets as well as the burqa, because “Islam is not compatible with the constitution,” [_Reuters_ reports](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-afd-islam-idUSKCN0XS16P "undefined"). Her comments come as other European countries, in particular France, [have politicized or put prohibitions on the garb](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-graham-holm/banning-burqas-and-niqabs%5Fb%5F5653889.html "undefined") worn by Muslim women. Conservatives allied with Merkel had [earlier called for a partial ban](http://time.com/4458846/germany-burqa-ban-angela-merkel/ "undefined") on burqas in schools, universities and when driving. TIME’s 2015 Person of the Year has been [criticized](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/nov/29/germans-want-merkel-to-take-tough-line-with-uk-over-brexit-poll-finds "undefined") for her open-door policy to refugees that saw around a 1 million asylum seekers enter Germany, a move that threatens to erode support in the party vote and, potentially, at the national polls. However, she is expected to handily win re-election; according to a Nov. [FG Wahlen poll](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-05/merkel-s-legacy-on-the-line-as-german-splits-riddle-her-party "undefined"), 64% of Germans said it’s a good thing that Merkel is running again. _With reporting by Simon Shuster in Essen_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4591678/angela-merkel-burqa-ban-cdu-cinference/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4591678/angela-merkel-burqa-ban-cdu-cinference/"},"headline":"Angela Merkel, Seeking Re-Election, Calls For Burqa Ban","datePublished":"2016-12-06T13:32:02.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T15:04:52.000Z","description":"She's facing a challenge from far-right populists in next year's elections","url":"https://time.com/4591678/angela-merkel-burqa-ban-cdu-cinference/","keywords":["Germany"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfce6f956afb19522/6988b0d8656a3f103ebce131/angela-merkel-burqa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfce6f956afb19522/6988b0d8656a3f103ebce131/angela-merkel-burqa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses delegates during her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party's congress in Essen, western Germany, on December 6, 2016.","caption":"German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses delegates during her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party's congress in Essen, western Germany, on December 6, 2016.","creditText":"Tobias Schwarz—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4591678/angela-merkel-burqa-ban-cdu-cinference/","name":"Angela Merkel, Seeking Re-Election, Calls For Burqa Ban"}}]}] ```