German Chancellor Angela Merkel flanked by the SPD’s Martin Schulz, right, and the CSU’s Horst Seehofer, after Merkel’s bloc and the SPD reached a deal to form a new coalition government, Berlin, Feb. 7, 2018 (AP photo by Ferdinand Ostrop).
Will Germany’s Social Democrats Take One More Chance on a Grand Coalition?
Andrew Green Monday, Feb. 12, 2018
BERLIN—Germany is getting another grand coalition. At least, that’s what the country’s political leaders hope is about to happen.
After a bruising round of negotiations that went days over deadline, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, or CDU, struck a deal last week with the center-left Social Democrats, the SPD, to extend the coalition that has governed Germany for the past four years. SPD members could still scuttle the deal, though. The 443,000 members have final say over whether the party will enter the agreement, with the results of their vote by mail set to be released in early March. ...