Angela Merkel enters final stretch in coalition talks
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives entered coalition talks Sunday with knotty issues still to untangle with their historic center-left rivals, but a deal could finally be in sight.
More than four months after an election beating for both parties, the coalition agreement is gradually coming into shape between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD), Merkel's chief whip Michael Grosse-Broemer said late Saturday.
But plenty of issues are not yet done and dusted, he added, pointing to disagreements over labor law, reform of the health system and housing policy. Leaders hope to wrap up the talks on repeating the grand coalition or GroKo that has ruled since 2013 by Sunday evening, with the option of extending into Monday or Tuesday.
Germany's partners abroad are watching impatiently from the sidelines, as Berlin has been paralyzed since September on urgent issues like reform of the European Union. Both sides intend and want to keep to the timetable, Grosse-Broe-mer said. But we'll have to wait until the talks are over before we can say something, he added, seeing an exciting day ahead.
We promised we'd negotiate until they squeal, and that's what we'll do, said SPD negotiator Manuela Schwesig as she arrived at talks early Sunday. Both sides are reluctant to compromise too much and risk losing support, but are equally fearful of going back to voters in repeat elections that could see a further rise of the far-right.
Neither can they afford to dig in their heels, as a poll for ARD television showed 71 percent of people do not understand why forming a government is taking so long. At stake for Merkel is whether she leads a stable coalition into her fourth term, or risks a fragile minority government or new elections.
The SPD is a reluctant partner, having initially vowed to go into opposition after plunging to a historic low vote share of 20.5 percent in Septe-mber. Social Democrats agreed to talks only after Merkel's soundings with two smaller parties, the ecologist Greens and the pro-business Free Demo-crats, fell through.
Challenged by rebels within his own ranks, SPD leader Martin Schulz has sought political cover by putting any final coalition deal to a vote by all 440,000 members. Kevin Kuehnert, the leader of the SPD youth wing, has become a standard bearer for opponents of a new deal with Merkel.
-AFP, Berlin
