German chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged to maintain stability after the Free Democratic Party pulled out of talks on forming a new government with her conservative bloc and the left-leaning Greens, raising the possibility of new elections.
Ms Merkel told reporters that the parties had been close to reaching a consensus on how to proceed with formal coalition talks but that the Free Democrats decided abruptly to pull out just before midnight on Sunday – a move she said she respected, but found “regrettable”.
She said she would consult with Germany’s president later in the day to brief him on the negotiations and discuss what comes next.
Without bringing the Free Democrats back to the table, Ms Merkel will be forced to try to continue her current governing coalition with the Social Democrats, although that centre-left party has said it will not do so, or she could try to form a minority government, which was seen as unlikely. Otherwise Germany will have to hold new elections.
“It is at least a day of deep reflection on how to go forward in Germany,” Ms Merkel said. “But I will do everything possible to ensure that this country will be well led through these difficult weeks.”
Ms Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats and sister Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU), the pro-business Free Democrats and the left-leaning Greens had already blown past Ms Merkel’s own deadline of Thursday to agree on a basis for opening formal negotiations on a coalition of all four parties, a configuration that has never been tried at a national level in Germany.
Key sticking points were the issues of migration and climate change.
Among other things the Greens were pushing for Germany to end its use of coal and combustion engines by 2030, though they had signalled they were open to some compromise.
The other parties are also committed to reducing carbon emissions, but Ms Merkel’s bloc had not put a date on when to phase out coal. The Free Democrats also expressed concern about what the moves would mean for jobs and Germany’s economic competitiveness.
On migration, the CSU wanted an annual cap on refugees, while the Greens sought to allow more categories of recent migrants to bring their closest relatives to join them.
Ms Merkel said that “we thought we were on a path where we could have reached agreement”, when the Free Democrats decided to pull out.
Free Democrat leader Christian Lindner told reporters that his party decided to withdraw rather than further compromise its principles and sign on to policies the party was not convinced of.
“It is better not to govern, than to govern falsely,” he said.
Greens politician Reinhard Buetikofer criticised Mr Lindner’s decision, saying on Twitter that the Free Democrat had chosen “a kind of populist agitation instead of governmental responsibility”.
Looking ahead, if it comes to a new election, polls currently suggest it would produce a very similar parliament to the current one, which would make efforts to form a new government similarly difficult.
Though Ms Merkel could also abandon the Free Democrats and the Greens and instead form a coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats, her current partners in the outgoing government, the Social Democrats have been adamant about going into opposition following its disastrous result in the September 24 election.
Party leader Martin Schulz as recently as Sunday again ruled out the possibility of pairing up with Ms Merkel’s bloc to form a new government.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel