Merkel starts alliance talks

ON BACK FOOT: BIG POLL LOSS OVER MIGRANTS Aiming to form coalition government with three parties.

Achastened Angela Merkel warned her conservatives they must compromise to forge a nationally untested alliance in Germany as she headed into talks with other parties yesterday after suffering losses in last month’s election.

Merkel’s conservatives, comprising her own Christian Democrats (CDU) and Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), are striving for a tie-up with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens.

But policy differences are wide and in the last few weeks politicians from all parties have set out their stall, narrowing room for compromise in policy areas from immigration to the European Union and environmental policy.

A senior CSU figure even said the conservatives may yet have to talk to their former coalition partners, the Social Democrats, several months down the line.

Bild daily quoted Merkel, whose conservatives bled support to the far right in the September 24 vote, as telling her parliamentary party on Tuesday evening: “We won’t come out of this without compromises” even if they have clear goals.

Merkel angered many voters over her open-door migrant policy and her conservatives saw their worst result since 1949. She has said she expects a government to be in place by Christmas, but some senior politicians say January is more likely.

That points to policy standstill in Europe’s biggest economy for at least three months. Even then, there is no guarantee of success.

The prospect of a minority government or new elections loom over the talks, a scenario Merkel wants to avoid due to fears the far-right Alternative for Germany could make bigger gains.

Merkel has already had to give way to the CSU on immigration, effectively bowing to a demand to limit the number of people allowed into Germany.

That may be unacceptable to the Greens. Merkel has spoken of a coalition that focuses on providing a sustainable social security system and has also stressed the importance of investing in digital technology. A budget surplus gives some leeway to the parties as it could accommodate the potentially competing demands for tax cuts and investment. –