Crunch time for Merkel to build coalition or face new polls
[TheLocal.de] German Chancellor Angela Merkel heads back into tense coalition talks on Saturday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
...current chancellor of Germany and the impetus behind Germany's remarkably ill-starred immigration program. Merkel used to be referred to by Germans as Mom . Now they make faces at her for inundating the country with Moslems ..
heads back into tense coalition talks on Saturday in a last-ditch effort to forge a coalition government and avert a political crisis in Europe's biggest economy.
The veteran leader won a September 24th vote without a clear majority for her conservative CDU/CSU bloc, largely due to the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), and must now build an unlikely alliance with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and left-leaning Greens.
Their deep policy differences however, especially on immigration and the environment, have hobbled the month-long negotiating marathon, leading the players to miss a Thursday deadline and declare they will push on until Sunday evening.
Until and unless the motley crew of four parties, which spans the mainstream political spectrum, strikes a deal, Germany's government remains in effective limbo with Merkel serving as caretaker chancellor.
If they fail, Germany is headed for likely snap elections, which would leave Merkel increasingly exposed to a rising band of critics within her own ranks and could further boost the anti-Islam AfD.
Merkel, no longer deemed invincible after delivering a historically poor election result, "now faces the most difficult task of her leadership so far," judged the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily.
Posted by: trailing wife 2017-11-19 |