For those of us who were in the Bavarian capital when the election was held, this is an extraordinary conclusion to a very divisive election, in which the Social Democratic, a historically monumental party, received its lowest percentage of votes in history, as did the conservative parties, though they received the most votes by a significant margin. But they were nowhere near the possibility of becoming a majority government and a very difficult attempt at coalition ensued.. In the process the Liberal party opted out at of talks at a crucial moment, and many think the result will be that it will disappear, the Social Democrats announced with a great flourish that under no circumstance would they again be part of a government with Angela Merkel as prime minister ( truly an odd development since it is not so long ago that a Social Democratic leader that would invite into Germany a million refugees ( a few more than that came), and that the conservatives would then have a field day in the next election, and the the opposite happened. In the end the Social Democrats didn’t seem to know if they were for or against Merkel’s extraordinary policy on refugees. At that point it became clear that if nothing dramatic happened, the Germans would have to have another election, and memories of Weimar and the rise of the Nazis. And (almost) nobody wanted that. So the Social Democrats heed and hawed and finally concluded that they would resume talks for the good of the country, an their leader eventually announced that he had reconsidered and the coalition could be formed but only if he became the Foreign Minister. This so enraged the young socialists that he was sent out to the boondocks, where he remains, and the party announced they could form a coalition if the party members (more than 400,000 folks) agreed to it in a referendum. There was a split opinion among constitutional experts about whether that was legal but the referendum went ahead and the results arrived yesterday: the coalition was approve by 66% of the members. And if you wanted to see a muted celebration at a party headquarters that their party would once again be part of the government, this was the one to tape for future reference. It was much more like a wake and not of the Irish kind. If you look soberly at the results you can see why. There were only losers to be found rolling around on about the battlefield, with one exception. Angela Merkel had to make some sacrifices which no doubt disturbed her deeply But one non-change item trumps the all. She will once again be Prime Minister for another several years, and we all look soberly at the rogues now in charge in so many countries, in many of which this is a complete surprise, the Macron-Merkel duo in charge at the centre of Europe is as welcome as a sunny day in a seemingly endless winter.
After 160 days, the outcome of the October election in Germany has finally been reached. It will be yet another Grand Coalition between the Conservative parties in Bavaria and the rest of Germany and the Social Democrats in all of Germany. For those of us who were in the Bavarian capital when the election was held, this is an extraordinary conclusion to a very divisive election, in which the Social Democratic, a historically monumental party, received its lowest percentage of votes in history, as did the conservative parties, though they received the most votes by a significant margin. But they were nowhere near the possibility of becoming a majority government and a very difficult attempt at coalition ensued..
In the process the Liberal party opted out at of talks at a crucial moment, and many think the result will be that it will disappear, the Social Democrats announced with a great flourish that under no circumstance would they again be part of a government with Angela Merkel as prime minister ( truly an odd development since it is not so long ago that a Social Democratic leader that would invite into Germany a million refugees ( a few more than that came), and that the conservatives would then have a field day in the next election, and the the opposite happened. In the end the Social Democrats didn’t seem to know if they were for or against Merkel’s extraordinary policy on refugees. At that point it became clear that if nothing dramatic happened, the Germans would have to have another election, and memories of Weimar and the rise of the Nazis. And (almost) nobody wanted that.
So the Social Democrats heed and hawed and finally concluded that they would resume talks for the good of the country, an their leader eventually announced that he had reconsidered and the coalition could be formed but only if he became the Foreign Minister. This so enraged the young socialists that he was sent out to the boondocks, where he remains, and the party announced they could form a coalition if the party members (more than 400,000 folks) agreed to it in a referendum. There was a split opinion among constitutional experts about whether that was legal but the referendum went ahead and the results arrived yesterday: the coalition was approve by 66% of the members. And if you wanted to see a muted celebration at a party headquarters that their party would once again be part of the government, this was the one to tape for future reference. It was much more like a wake and not of the Irish kind. If you look soberly at the results you can see why. There were only losers to be found rolling around on  the battlefield, with one exception. Angela Merkel had to make some sacrifices which no doubt disturbed her deeply But one non-change item trumps the all. She will once again be Prime Minister for another several years, and we all look soberly at the rogues now in charge in so many countries, in many of which this is a complete surprise, the Macron-Merkel duo in charge at the centre of Europe is as welcome as a sunny day in a seemingly endless winter.