Veteran Schauble agrees to lead fractious Bundestag

WOLFGANG SCHÄUBLE, Germany’s veteran finance minister, agreed to become the speaker of parliament yesterday, in the first decisive step towards forming a new government as coalition negotiations stalled over the issue of immigration.

Angela Merkel, the chancellor, will hope that Mr Schäuble, 75, who is deeply respected in Germany for helping to steer the eurozone through the debt crisis, can impose order on a fractious parliament that includes six par- ties after Sunday’s election. Mrs Merkel is attempting to form a three-party coa- lition government after her conservative CDU/CSU bloc lost support and the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AFD) entered parliament for the first time in half a century.

Mr Schäuble’s exit means that the finance ministry could go to the probusiness Free Democratic Party (FDP), or possibly the Green Party, as part of coalition talks. The FDP, which is as fiscally hawkish as Mr Schäuble, has said it wants his job. As Bundestag president, Mr Schäuble will not be involved in coalition negotiations, removing one strong-minded negotiator from the table.

A deal with the FDP and the Greens is Mrs Merkel’s only realistic coalition option, but the parties disagree on issues including energy, taxation, Europe and migration, complicating the path to a so-called “Jamaica” coalition – a reference to the parties’ respective colours: black, yellow and green.

Yesterday, the Green Party said it would refuse an “upper limit” to the number of refugees entering the country. “Our political compass is refugee protection and human rights, so recognised refugees should be able to catch up with their families,” said Simone Peter, Green party leader.

Mrs Merkel is under pressure from her party to set an upper limit on migration, after it lost votes to the AFD.

Meanwhile, the FDP leader said his party would only join an alliance with Mrs Merkel if there is a change in the direction of government policy.