THE leader of Bavaria’s conservative party came out in support of an alliance with Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) yesterday.
Bavarian Prime Minister and head of the Christian Social Union (CSU) Horst Seehofer’s decision adds to momentum for a new ‘grand coalition’ to break the political deadlock in Germany.
Conservative chancellor Angela Merkel, whose fourth term was plunged into doubt a week ago when three-way coalition talks with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens collapsed, was handed a political lifeline by the SPD on Friday.
Under pressure to preserve stability and avoid new elections, the SPD reversed its position and agreed to talk to Merkel, raising the prospect of a new grand coalition, which has ruled for the last four years, or a minority government.
“An alliance of the conservatives and SPD is the best option for Germany — better, anyway than a coalition with the Free Democrats and Greens, new elections or a minority government,” Horst Seehofer told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
Several European leaders have emphasised the importance of getting a stable German government in place quickly so the bloc can discuss its future, including Brexit and proposals by French President Emmanuel Macron on euro zone reforms.
Merkel believes Berlin can do business the way things are as she is leading an acting government with most of her former ministers, including SPD ones, still in post until a new coalition is formed.
She said she would pursue a grand coalition and an Emnid poll released yesterday showed that 52 per cent of Germans backed a grand coalition. Support for Merkel’s conservative bloc was up two points at 33 per cent from a week ago and the SPD was up one point at 22 percent.
The youth section of Merkel’s conservatives pressurised parties to finalise a deal by Christmas and said if the SPD disagreed then conservatives should pursue a minority government.
“If there is no coalition agreement between the conservatives and SPD by then [Christmas], the negotiations will be seen as having failed,” said the Junge Union.
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