Coalition deal close for Germany as end looms to political standoff
Deal struck with Social Democrats Asylum seeker limit part of terms
Chancellor Angela Merkel took a significant step toward ending Germany’s lengthy political impasse by securing a preliminary agreement to enter formal coalition talks with a centre-left party.
Yesterday’s deal was welcomed by Germany’s European allies, but her prospective partner now faces a tough task to sell it to sceptical supporters.
Exhausted negotiators from Ms Merkel’s conservative Union bloc and the centre-left Social Democrats presented their deal, which includes pledges to strengthen the European Union and keep a lid on the number of migrants entering Germany, following more than 24 hours of non-stop talks to cap a week of wrangling.
Social Democrats’ leader Martin Schulz said: “We have achieved outstanding results.”
However, Mr Schulz must first persuade a party congress on 21 January to agree to hold formal coalition negotiations to make the new government a reality. If those talks are successful, he must steer a coalition deal through a ballot of the full party membership. Christian Social Union leader Horst Seehofer, who heads up the Bavaria-only sister party to Ms Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, said a new government could be formed by Easter. “If we succeed, these could be four very, very good years,” Mr Seehofer said. “I am already speaking of these years because I believe we will succeed.”
The prospective partners have governed Germaseekers ny together for the past four years, but Mr Schulz, Merkel’s defeated challenger in Germany’s 24 September election, initially said after the Social Democrats crashed to a disastrous result that they would go into opposition. That decision was popular with members.
He reluctantly reconsidered after Ms Merkel’s coalition talks with two smaller parties collapsed in November.
The conservatives also performed poorly in the election and the three coalition parties’ support dropped by a total of nearly 14 percentage points.
“This election result was a signal to politicians that business as usual wouldn’t work and that we must show the people in this country we understand,” Mr Seehofer said.
Mr Seehofer’s CSU, which has taken a hard line on migration, has sought to reinforce its law-and-order profile. Yesterday’s agreement states the number of new asylum should not exceed a range of 180,000 to 220,000 people annually. There will be a 1,000-a-month limit on the number of close relatives allowed to join migrants in Germany who have a status below full asylum.
Mr Schulz obtained a minor reform to how the public health insurance system is financed as well as a commitment to guarantee the existing level of pensions through to 2025. He did not secure an increase in the top income tax rate that his party proposed.
Ms Merkel highlighted promises to hire 15,000 more police officers and 2,000 people to strengthen the justice system.
The three parties did not officially give up Germany’s target of a 40 per cent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 compared with 1990, which a draft earlier this week had suggested they would.
Ms Merkel has been leading a caretaker government.