Merkel pledges to form new govt
GERMANY: Angela Merkel vowed to get a government in place as soon as possible yesterday as she recovered from a week-long crisis that threatened to force fresh German elections and could have ended her political career.
In a speech to members of her party, Merkel said she wanted to avoid a re-run of September’s elections, which saw her Christian Democrats reduced to 33 per cent of the vote and left her struggling to muster a coalition to government in talks with a range of smaller parties.
‘‘The people voted. And I absolutely do not favour, if we can’t do anything with the result, asking people to vote again,’’ Merkel said at a party conference in the Baltic coast resort of Kuhlungsborn.
‘‘Europe needs a strong Germany, so it is desirable to get a government in place quickly. Now it is no use to grieve things.’’ Negotiations between Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and smaller parties broke down in the early hours of Monday morning, triggered a week of instability that threatened to force new elections.
The crisis was calmed but not entirely resolved when the Social Democrats (SPD), the main centreLeft party agreed to enter coalition talks on Saturday.
If she proves unable to form a new coalition government, a weakened Merkel will have no choice but to either form a minority government, or face new snap elections - an event party leaders fear could strengthen the far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Her comments came as a senior SPD figure hinted the party would likely approve a coalition with Mrs Merkel’s conservative party if she came up with ‘‘convincing’’ proposals.
Niels Annen told the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper that Germany needed to form a government quickly and that his party would not rule it out governing alongside Merkel. ‘‘Germany urgently needs a predictable and reliable government.
:A grand coalition could be an option and we should not exclude it,’’ Annen said.
Martin Schulz, the leader of SPD, had previously ruled out entering into another ‘‘grand coalition’’ with Mrs Merkel after his party suffered its worst ever result in the federal elections in September. He back-pedalled and offered Merkel talks on Saturday after a ‘‘dramatic’’ personal appeal from Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German President, and pressure from members of his own party who threatened to mount a leadership challenge.
It is not yet clear whether the SPD will enter into a new coalition with Mrs Merkel, or whether it will only offer to prop up a minority government from the outside.
Merkel’s career as leader of her party was left in the balance after four weeks of negotiations on forming a ‘‘Jamaica coalition’’ - socalled because the party colours match the colour of the Jamaican flag - broke down after a series of late-night discussions on Monday. Christian Lindner, leader of the Free Democrats (FDP), stormed out of the talks with Merkel’s CDU, its sister Bavarian party the CSU, and the Greens, after midnight last Sunday, citing irreconcilable differences. Disagreements around immigration were one of the main points of contention.