Tough talks to form Germany’s next government went into overtime on Friday, putting Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political future in the balance as failure to produce a deal could force snap elections. Merkel’s disputed liberal refugee policy that let in more than a million asylum seekers since 2015 came back to haunt her, with a motley crew of potential partners digging in their heels on diametrically opposed demands on immigration.
After weeks of quarrelsome exploratory talks, Merkel’s CDU/CSU bloc, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the left-leaning Greens are hoping to find enough common ground to begin formal coalition negotiations. The awkward bedfellows have been pushed together by September’s inconclusive election, which left Merkel badly weakened as the far-right Alternative for Germany lured millions of voters angry over the refugee influx.
Merkel had initially said she wanted to wind up the negotiations by Thursday, but marathon talks failed to produce a breakthrough. Party leaders resumed their high-stakes haggling at midday on Friday and are expecting talks to last through the weekend. “Make up your minds,” urged CSU leader Horst Seehofer, adding that he hoped “that we’ll succeed on Sunday”. Peter Altmaier, Merkel’s chief of staff voiced optimism about reaching a deal, saying that “the problem is solvable”.
But the deputy leader of the liberal FDP, Wolfgang Kubicki, sounded more pessimistic, warning that “the positions have hardened”. Merkel herself acknowledged that “it will definitely be difficult, but it’s worthwhile to go into round two on Friday.”After suffering a humiliating loss at the polls, the centre-left Social Democratic Party has gone into opposition and ruled out returning to a grand coalition with Merkel.
