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<\/p>\nGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel will launch a new round of coalition talks on Sunday in a bid to end the country’s political stalemate.<\/p>\n
More than three months after its election, Germany is still without a new government.<\/p>\n
The five-day talks will include Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), her allies the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the Social Democrats (SPD).<\/p>\n
Many see this as her last chance to form a stable coalition.<\/p>\n
The centre-left SPD has governed jointly with the chancellor’s centre-right party for eight of the last 12 years. But a historically poor poll result in September saw SPD leader Martin Schulz vow to take the Social Democrats into opposition.<\/p>\n
Pressure has mounted on the SPD since November, when Mrs Merkel failed to cobble together a coalition with the liberal FDP and the Greens.<\/p>\n
The chancellor must now convince SPD leaders that they have enough common goals to start formal coalition negotiations by March or April.<\/p>\n
European Union allies, such as France, see Germany as a pillar of stability in the bloc and will be hoping she succeeds.<\/p>\n
Immigration, Europe, tax, and healthcare could all become points of contention.<\/p>\n
Within the SPD, there are fears that reforming the grand coalition would cost the party yet more support. The party’s poll ratings are down and some centre-left critics argue the SPD has given up its core principles to cling to power with Mrs Merkel.<\/p>\n
The chancellor faces similar censure from conservatives, who say she has abandoned traditional values and driven voters towards the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is now represented in the federal parliament for the first time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Top leaders from the three potential allies met on 3 January to discuss preliminary issues, and have sounded an optimistic note since then.<\/p>\n
“Confidence has grown, and we go into the talks with optimism,” a joint declaration said.<\/p>\n
SPD Chairman Mr Schulz spoke of a “very focused, meaningful debate”.<\/p>\n
Horst Seehofer of the CSU said he felt the parties would probably agree to govern together, saying: “I think we’ll manage it.”<\/p>\n
The parties have agreed to a media blackout during the talks, which will finish on 11 January.<\/p>\n
If they prove successful – and the SPD’s members vote to proceed – full-blown coalition talks will follow.<\/p>\n
If talks fail, Mrs Merkel could form a less stable minority government with the Greens, with SPD support.<\/p>\n
However, she has previously said she would prefer a fresh election to that eventuality.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will launch a new round of coalition talks on Sunday in a bid to end the country’s political stalemate. More than three months after its election, Germany is still without a new government. The five-day talks will include Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), her allies the Christian Social Union (CSU), and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":248852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[5208,1268,15922],"yoast_head":"\n