The grand coalition between Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD) has fallen apart even before it came into being. First, Edmund Stoiber, current president of the state of Bavaria, slated to become Finance Minister, announced that he would not be joining Merkel’s cabinet and then Franz Münterfering, the SPD leader and would-be vice-chancellor and labour minister, announced he quit. Now the SPD is in chaos, with its future direction unsure. Until now, it had remained fairly centrists with its more leftist elements kept at bay, yet now anything seems possible. One thing is for sure though, that if the SPD makes a significant shift leftwards, any future coalition is doomed. However, the coalition is already in great danger and there is a very real chance it will never materialize. This is definitely something to keep your eye on. Without new elections in the spring, some say incoherence will be institutionalized.
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November 2nd, 2005
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Christendom, Democracy, In the News, Politics & Elections
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Curzon
November 2, 2005
8:46 pm
With the Greens and the new leftist party to its flank, how far left can the SDP go?
(Also, I like your British spelling of "labour." Jolly good show!)
Chirol
November 2, 2005
8:55 pm
The Greens and new left wing party have nothing to do with the SPD going left. The SPD itself has been battling the more extreme factions within the part in order to push through reforms over the past few years. Thus, should the more leftwing elements come to power within the SPD, the CDU would pull out of the coalition.