No other postwar candidate for German chancellor has failed to win on the first ballot. The stunning but short-lived defeat sent shock waves throughout Europe and dragged down the stock market. The DAX, the index of major German companies, fell by 1.8% at one point.

The first round of voting, which was conducted by secret ballot, could affect Merz’s prospects for success and bring trouble to his coalition’s agenda, which includes reviving a stagnant economy and dealing with the rise of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party.

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Source: https://apnews.com/article/germany-government-merz-coalition-98e9007ea41b8bbd36be8d09baefb632

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Although the FPO won September’s parliamentary election with about 29% of the vote, the eurosceptic party failed to form a workable coalition, opening the door to a centrist alternative.

When the FPO bid crumbled, the conservative People’s Party (OVP), Social Democrats (SPO) and liberal Neos struck an alliance, overcoming their own earlier failure to do a deal.

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Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/austrian-conservative-stocker-sworn-head-coalition-government-2025-03-03/

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The prospective partners in Germany’s new government resumed their push to nail down a coalition deal on Monday, but it was unclear whether they would clinch an agreement before the day is over.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Union bloc and the center-left Social Democrats originally set a Sunday deadline to wrap up talks on extending their alliance of the past four years, but budgeted two extra days as a precaution when formal negotiations started Jan. 26.

Still on the table are two points that are important to the Social Democrats: curbing the use of temporary work contracts and trying to narrow differences between Germany’s public and private health insurance systems.

“I assume that we can get this finally done today,” Volker Bouffier, a deputy leader of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, told reporters as he arrived for the talks. “I’m not certain, but confident. We may need until early tomorrow.”

Germany’s effort to put together a governing coalition after its Sept. 24 election is already its longest since World War II.

It won’t finish with these talks. A deal will have to be approved in a ballot of the Social Democrats’ members, many of whom are skeptical after a disastrous election result. That process will take a few weeks.

Merkel’s attempt to put together a government with two smaller parties collapsed in November. Social Democrat leader Martin Schulz, who had previously ruled out renewing the “grand coalition” of Germany’s biggest parties, then reversed course.

Failure to reach an agreement, or a deal’s rejection by Social Democrat members, would leave a minority government under Merkel or a new election as the only viable governing options.

Martin Schulz, head of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, SPD, speaks to journalists at the start of a new round of coalition talks in Berlin, Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats embarked Sunday on what they hope is their last round of talks on forming a new German government, although the negotiations could take up to two more days. dpa via AP Kay Nietfeld

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Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article198401499.html

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It has been more than 100 days since Germany headed to the polls — but the next handful of days might matter more than all of them combined.

Since late September — when German voters handed Chancellor Angela Merkel a fourth term, albeit without giving her party an outright majority — the country has teetered without a new formal government. Unable to win the support of another party for a governing coalition yet, Merkel is now staring down the possibility that the monthslong standoff may force a new election entirely.

Enter: the Social Democrats.

On Sunday, Merkel embarked on preliminary coalition talks with the center-left party, also known as the SDP. They were her second choice — after similar negotiations with a separate pro-business party broke down in November — but it appears circumstances have forced her hand: Party leaders, both for the SDP and the center-right alliance fronted by Merkel, have given themselves until Thursday to determine whether a framework agreement is possible.

Now, the two sides are no strangers to one another. Far from it, in fact: They are partners in the caretaker government now steering the country, and their “grand coalition” of centrists has governed for eight of the past 12 years.

Yet the friendship one might expect of such long-connected factions has faltered in recent months. Both groups saw disappointing results at the ballot box in September, losing dozens of votes to smaller minority parties — which many lawmakers took to be a sign of dissatisfaction with the previous arrangement. Martin Schulz, leader of the SDP, even vowed on election night that the party would outright reject a place in any governing coalition and instead act as opposition.

Faced with the prospect of prolonging the political uncertainty of the past three months, Schulz relented on that pledge — at least for the sake of preliminary talks — but that does little to erase the growing policy differences between the two sides.

NPR’s Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson noted on Morning Edition where those wedges rest:

“One is the issue of [European Union] reforms, which is on the table today. In other words: Does the EU or the member states — do they integrate more politically and economically or less so?

“The other issue is whether Germany will actually reach its 2 percent of GDP spending on defense in NATO, which is something that’s being demanded by the Trump administration. The conservatives say yes, and the central Social Democrats say no.

“But the biggest hurdle is probably the refugee policy, because the conservatives are very worried that if they don’t tighten this, that more voters are going to go to the Alternative for Germany party, which is a far-right party that is now in parliament.”

Indeed, the AfG looms as a silent shadow over this week’s talks. The once-marginalized party, which is serving in the German Parliament for the first time, has been denounced by all the other parties as xenophobic — yet it has been gaining in popularity, particularly amid an uncertain political environment.Now the third-largest faction in Parliament, the AfG would have the opportunity to build on those gains if this week’s talks fall through and circumstances force a new election. Though, as Soraya points out, the party could stand to gain even from successful negotiations, since a coalition between Merkel’s conservatives and the SDP would make the AfG “the main opposition party, which brings with it major posts within parliamentary committees and more money.”

Should this week’s preliminary negotiations emerge with an agreement, it would be far from the final word on the matter. Party leaders would then need to bring the terms back to their own members, many of whom remain opposed to renewing a partnership with the other side. Only with those members’ OK can full-blown coalition talks proceed.Even in the swiftest possible scenario, Germans have many weeks left before they can arrive at a settled coalition at the helm.

Should this week’s preliminary negotiations emerge with an agreement, it would be far from the final word on the matter. Party leaders would then need to bring the terms back to their own members, many of whom remain opposed to renewing a partnership with the other side. Only with those members’ OK can full-blown coalition talks proceed.Even in the swiftest possible scenario, Germans have many weeks left before they can arrive at a settled coalition at the helm.

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Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/08/576494878/still-in-search-of-a-deal-merkel-faces-a-crucial-week-of-coalition-talks

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