23 September, 2005

No winner: German inconclusive election

Since the election took place and the result turned out to be a disaster on Sunday, I've been trying to write about this.

Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) won Sunday's election by three seats, however the margin was too slim for them to be the gorvernment alone. Moreover, having faced this situation Gerhard Schroeder of the Social Democrats (SPD) claims to be a chancellor.

CDU's Merkel hold her first talk with SPD's Schroeder on Thursday. But the talk ended up without any progress. She pointed out "clear differences" between two parties. On the other hand, SPD chairman Franz Muentefering said his party was keen to have more detailed talks with the CDU, but he stressed again that Schroeder should remain chancellor.

It is said that a CDU-SPD "grand coalition" is still regarded as a likely outcome to the crisis - but the talks could take weeks. They are going to have another talk next Wednesday.

There are some other possible coalition plans. One is that the CDU forms a coalition government with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens.

Although the FDP, who came third, are traditional allies of the conservative CDU, the Greens worked with SPD. Moreover, there is a gap between the CDU and the Greens in policy in respect of environmental issues and others. Both the FDP and Greens have said they are unlikely to switch allegiances.

BBC News describes this like the following:

The CDU and SPD have been trying to woo smaller potential partners.

If no deal is reached, another election may have to be held - probably in 2006. A prolonged deadlock is thought to damage the German economy.