Germany’s main centre-left party has voted for more talks approximately going back into government with Angela Merkel. But the SPD’s acute divisions remainGermany has now been without a government for more than three months,and it could be at least the halt of February before Angela Merkel can start her fourth term as chancellor – if she ever can. It is surely significant that two successive elections maintain each been followed by record-breaking difficulties in forming a government. It is a reminder that the once seemingly commanding large parties are dwindling in Germany, just as they maintain dwindled elsewhere in Europe. German party politics is fragmenting: there are now six different party groupings in the newly elected Bundestag or parliament.
Following the weekend vote by the social democrats (SPD) to originate detailed coalition talks with Angela Merkel’s centre-proper CDU-CSU bloc, and normal political business may now reassert itself to some degree. Nevertheless,there are still major hurdles to jump, of which the largest will be a referendum among SPD members on the deal, and success is not guaranteed. Even without serious hitches,it may be fully six months before a new government is finally formed in Europe’s richest and most principal country. This may not do much to shake Germanys economic credibility. But it is putting unfamiliar pressures on Germany’s party and governmental systems. The fact that Mrs Merkel has long been Europe’s dominant leader in spite of never having secured an overall majority should not disguise the importance of these new signs of weakness.
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Source: theguardian.com