Monday, September 19, 2005

No winner in German election

German coalition struggle begins
Germany's political rivals are making moves to build a coalition - but both main parties claim the right to lead after Sunday's inconclusive election.
There is speculation about a possible "traffic light" coalition - never tried before - between the SPD, Greens and the FDP.
A coalition deal must be reached before 18 October, the deadline for the new parliament to sit and choose a new chancellor. If there is no deal, the only way out would be a fresh election.
No winner gives Schroeder something to cheer about. SPD was down by 20% in polls several weeks ago, but in the end, most people realized they didn't want CDU to lead again. That, and CDU kept making stupid campaign mistakes. An interesting development is the strong showing of the new Left Party, which should show all of those righties who say Liberalism is dead in Europe that they are wrong.

The traffic light coalition is an interesting idea. I doubt it happens. My bet is on new elections next month.

No comments:

Post a Comment