On Thursday, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier received the
two party leaders for a long discussion, but even in the days leading up
to that meeting, it had become clear that the two were eagerly burying
the hatchet to lay the groundwork for a possible coalition. Schulz and
Merkel, together with Horst Seehofer, who leads the Bavarian
conservatives, now intend to explore the possibility of slapping
together another governing coalition - the same "grand coalition" that
voters so clearly rejected in the general election in late September.
As a group, Germans are thought to value political stability. But a repeat of the SPD-conservative coalition is the kind of stability that wouldn't be good for the country. The last four years have shown that a grand coalition is a static alliance, one that is good at spending money but not as adept at moving projects forward - aside from the project of right-wing populism, of course.
Deputy SPD head Olaf Scholz said recently that a rebirth of the grand coalition would "have negative consequences for our democracy." It would also mean that the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) would be the strongest party in opposition. That means it would always have the privilege in parliament of delivering the first rebuttal to Merkel's speeches.
Nevertheless, for the leaders of the parties involved, a grand
coalition isn't completely unattractive
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For Merkel, it represents the best opportunity to secure her power, a motive that has long been important to her. And SPD head Martin Schulz already seems to be practicing the arguments he hopes to use at next week's party congress to convince unwilling delegates of the utility of another alliance with Merkel's conservatives.
Read more: Germany Facing a Return to the Grand Coalition - SPIEGEL ONLINE
As a group, Germans are thought to value political stability. But a repeat of the SPD-conservative coalition is the kind of stability that wouldn't be good for the country. The last four years have shown that a grand coalition is a static alliance, one that is good at spending money but not as adept at moving projects forward - aside from the project of right-wing populism, of course.
Deputy SPD head Olaf Scholz said recently that a rebirth of the grand coalition would "have negative consequences for our democracy." It would also mean that the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) would be the strongest party in opposition. That means it would always have the privilege in parliament of delivering the first rebuttal to Merkel's speeches.
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For Merkel, it represents the best opportunity to secure her power, a motive that has long been important to her. And SPD head Martin Schulz already seems to be practicing the arguments he hopes to use at next week's party congress to convince unwilling delegates of the utility of another alliance with Merkel's conservatives.
Read more: Germany Facing a Return to the Grand Coalition - SPIEGEL ONLINE
