Price of your coalition is too high, Merkel told by party

ANGELA MERKEL was facing anger from within her own party yesterday over the terms of a new coalition agreement. Leading voices in the Christian Democrat party (CDU) accused Mrs Merkel of paying too high a price to secure the support of other parties to keep her in office.

There is growing discontent in the CDU at the number of key ministries that Mrs Merkel has handed over to her coalition partners, and particularly at the loss of the key finance ministry to the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).

“There is very little enthusiasm in the party over the loss of ministries,” said Daniel Günther, the regional prime minister of Schleswig-holstein. “The Social Democrats have done very well for themselves.”

The loss of ministries “cut to the heart of the CDU”, Carsten Linnemann, the chairman of the party’s small businesses association said.

“For our party, Feb 7 2018, could turn out to be a turning point, the beginning of the end of the CDU as a mainstream party,” he said.

“Under normal circumstances, the CDU could never agree to this deal,” Werner Bahlsen, the president of the CDU economic council said.

Olav Guttig, a relatively unknown CDU MP appeared to sum up the feelings of many in the party when he tweeted: “Phew, at least we’ve still got the chancellery”.

The rumblings in the party do not amount to a rebellion against Mrs Merkel yet. However, they will be a worrying sign for her, especially as the loss of ministries means she has fewer portfolios to offer party rivals in order to keep them loyal.

“The allocation of ministries was not a negotiating success,” Philipp Bürkle, the head of the party youth wing said.