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| Re-election in Hand, Merkel Moves to Form New German Government | Re-election in Hand, Merkel Moves to Form New German Government |
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| BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel took steps on Monday to form a new government, a day after she scored a stunning personal triumph in German national elections that cemented her position as the most powerful politician in Europe. | BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel took steps on Monday to form a new government, a day after she scored a stunning personal triumph in German national elections that cemented her position as the most powerful politician in Europe. |
| Ms. Merkel became the only major European leader to be re-elected twice since the financial crisis of 2008, winning a strong popular endorsement for her mix of austerity and solidarity in managing the troubled euro zone. | Ms. Merkel became the only major European leader to be re-elected twice since the financial crisis of 2008, winning a strong popular endorsement for her mix of austerity and solidarity in managing the troubled euro zone. |
| On Monday morning, Ms. Merkel met with leaders of her center-right Christian Democratic party to discuss strategy for forming a coalition government, most likely with the center-left Social Democrats, who finished second in the polling. The negotiations are likely to take weeks or months, extending a de facto moratorium on European decision-making that has been in effect during the German election campaign. | |
| Ms. Merkel said Monday that she did not expect German policy toward the euro zone to change, a statement that is likely to come as a disappointment to other European leaders who hoped she would be open to bolder action once the election was behind her. | Ms. Merkel said Monday that she did not expect German policy toward the euro zone to change, a statement that is likely to come as a disappointment to other European leaders who hoped she would be open to bolder action once the election was behind her. |
| European policy “will continue in the same spirit as before,” Ms. Merkel said. Her party’s victory “was a very strong vote for a unified Europe,” she said. | European policy “will continue in the same spirit as before,” Ms. Merkel said. Her party’s victory “was a very strong vote for a unified Europe,” she said. |
| The surprising show of strength for Ms. Merkel and the Christian Democrats — even their own polls had not suggested such a result — was just short of an absolute majority, according to preliminary results published on Monday. No chancellor has achieved an absolute majority since Konrad Adenauer in 1957. | The surprising show of strength for Ms. Merkel and the Christian Democrats — even their own polls had not suggested such a result — was just short of an absolute majority, according to preliminary results published on Monday. No chancellor has achieved an absolute majority since Konrad Adenauer in 1957. |
| Ms. Merkel’s Christian Democrats and their allies, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, together won 41.5 percent of the popular vote, which translates into 311 of the 630 seats in Parliament. In 2009, the two parties together won 33.8 percent of the vote. | |
| For all her success, it is not clear how Ms. Merkel will govern in her third four-year term. Leaders of the Social Democrats, or S.P.D., said they were open to coalition talks but showed little enthusiasm. The two parties shared power during Ms. Merkel’s first term, but she dominated the coalition and left the Social Democrats weaker. | For all her success, it is not clear how Ms. Merkel will govern in her third four-year term. Leaders of the Social Democrats, or S.P.D., said they were open to coalition talks but showed little enthusiasm. The two parties shared power during Ms. Merkel’s first term, but she dominated the coalition and left the Social Democrats weaker. |
| “Ms. Merkel won with an impressive result,” Peer Steinbrück, the Social Democrats’ lead candidate, said Monday. “Now it is up to her to find a majority. The S.P.D. is not going to force itself upon her.” | “Ms. Merkel won with an impressive result,” Peer Steinbrück, the Social Democrats’ lead candidate, said Monday. “Now it is up to her to find a majority. The S.P.D. is not going to force itself upon her.” |
| Ms. Merkel’s allies for the past four years, the business-minded Free Democrats, lost their place in Parliament, missing the 5 percent cutoff for the first time since the party’s founding after World War II. | Ms. Merkel’s allies for the past four years, the business-minded Free Democrats, lost their place in Parliament, missing the 5 percent cutoff for the first time since the party’s founding after World War II. |
| The humiliating defeat of the Free Democrats was symptomatic of simmering discontent at the fringes of German politics. A larger majority of voters chose the consensus and stability offered by the two main parties, both of which gained votes compared with the last elections. But a significant minority moved to extremes. | The humiliating defeat of the Free Democrats was symptomatic of simmering discontent at the fringes of German politics. A larger majority of voters chose the consensus and stability offered by the two main parties, both of which gained votes compared with the last elections. But a significant minority moved to extremes. |
| The right-wing Alternative for Germany, which wants to abolish the euro, fell just short of the 5 percent parliamentary threshold, draining votes from the Free Democrats and probably causing that party’s defeat. The Alternative party could be an annoyance to Ms. Merkel in the next four years and force her to pay more attention to the political right. | The right-wing Alternative for Germany, which wants to abolish the euro, fell just short of the 5 percent parliamentary threshold, draining votes from the Free Democrats and probably causing that party’s defeat. The Alternative party could be an annoyance to Ms. Merkel in the next four years and force her to pay more attention to the political right. |
| Some former Free Democrat voters said they had defected out of disappointment that the party had not come out more strongly against euro rescue plans. “I voted for the F.D.P. for 40 years,” said Anneli Ute Gabanyi, a political scientist who lives in Berlin and was attending the Alternative for Germany gathering Sunday night. “I finally said no.” | Some former Free Democrat voters said they had defected out of disappointment that the party had not come out more strongly against euro rescue plans. “I voted for the F.D.P. for 40 years,” said Anneli Ute Gabanyi, a political scientist who lives in Berlin and was attending the Alternative for Germany gathering Sunday night. “I finally said no.” |
| In the past three years, the Social Democrats have given crucial support to Ms. Merkel in Parliament in passing credit lines and aid packages, tied to painful reforms, for euro-zone countries in need. But the center-leftists are likely to extract a high price in domestic reforms — a minimum wage, or social change — in exchange for joining a Merkel government in which they would be clearly the junior partner. Preliminary official results showed them with 25.7 percent, far below their center-right rivals. | In the past three years, the Social Democrats have given crucial support to Ms. Merkel in Parliament in passing credit lines and aid packages, tied to painful reforms, for euro-zone countries in need. But the center-leftists are likely to extract a high price in domestic reforms — a minimum wage, or social change — in exchange for joining a Merkel government in which they would be clearly the junior partner. Preliminary official results showed them with 25.7 percent, far below their center-right rivals. |
| Sigmar Gabriel, the chairman of the Social Democrats, said Ms. Merkel called him early Monday, but he indicated that he was in no rush to begin coalition talks. Instead, the party will hold a conference at the end of the week to discuss with its membership how to proceed. | |
| The Social Democrats find themselves in a tough position, given their last experience in a coalition with the chancellor from 2005 to 2009. The party lost popularity afterward, and recovered only slightly in this round of voting. But in recent years they have gathered strength at the state level. The Social Democrats control 9 of the legislatures in Germany’s 16 states, which gives them a majority in the upper house of Parliament. They must proceed with caution to avoid jeopardizing their growing strength beyond Berlin. | The Social Democrats find themselves in a tough position, given their last experience in a coalition with the chancellor from 2005 to 2009. The party lost popularity afterward, and recovered only slightly in this round of voting. But in recent years they have gathered strength at the state level. The Social Democrats control 9 of the legislatures in Germany’s 16 states, which gives them a majority in the upper house of Parliament. They must proceed with caution to avoid jeopardizing their growing strength beyond Berlin. |
| Mr. Steinbrück led the Social Democrats’ election campaign on a platform of social justice. On Monday, he and Mr. Gabriel indicated that it would serve as a loose basis for negotiations. The platform calls for introduction of a minimum wage, an overhaul of the pension system and the establishment of a fund to save troubled banks that would be financed by the institutions themselves, instead of by taxpayers. | |
| Mr. Steinbrück said points of contention with Ms. Merkel could include creation of a banking union, further financial aid for Greece and the troubled-bank fund. | Mr. Steinbrück said points of contention with Ms. Merkel could include creation of a banking union, further financial aid for Greece and the troubled-bank fund. |
| Ms. Merkel, a physicist raised in Communist East Germany, was unusually buoyant Sunday when she appeared before supporters, who chanted “Angie! Angie!” and gave her two minutes of applause at party headquarters. She exuberantly thanked voters, campaigners and her husband, Joachim Sauer, a quantum chemist. Mr. Sauer, who tends to shun the limelight, stood at the side of the stage, acknowledging the jubilation. | Ms. Merkel, a physicist raised in Communist East Germany, was unusually buoyant Sunday when she appeared before supporters, who chanted “Angie! Angie!” and gave her two minutes of applause at party headquarters. She exuberantly thanked voters, campaigners and her husband, Joachim Sauer, a quantum chemist. Mr. Sauer, who tends to shun the limelight, stood at the side of the stage, acknowledging the jubilation. |
| Later, during a celebration at her party headquarters, Ms. Merkel, 59, clapped and sang along with the crowds but reminded them, “Tomorrow, we work.” | Later, during a celebration at her party headquarters, Ms. Merkel, 59, clapped and sang along with the crowds but reminded them, “Tomorrow, we work.” |
| Ms. Merkel entered politics after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. She is now widely viewed as the world’s most powerful woman, and is set to overtake Margaret Thatcher as Europe’s longest-serving elected female leader. | Ms. Merkel entered politics after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. She is now widely viewed as the world’s most powerful woman, and is set to overtake Margaret Thatcher as Europe’s longest-serving elected female leader. |
| Her critics have accused her of lacking strategic vision and say she has relied on tactical skills to survive. They ask why she has not used her power to write more history, both at home and in the unified Europe that is the source of Germany’s political and economic strength. | Her critics have accused her of lacking strategic vision and say she has relied on tactical skills to survive. They ask why she has not used her power to write more history, both at home and in the unified Europe that is the source of Germany’s political and economic strength. |
| “She has a technocratic understanding of Europe,” said Joschka Fischer, the former Greens leader and foreign minister from 1998 to 2005. But, he added, “Europe is not a scientific project.” | “She has a technocratic understanding of Europe,” said Joschka Fischer, the former Greens leader and foreign minister from 1998 to 2005. But, he added, “Europe is not a scientific project.” |
| The euro crisis, in this view, is about politics and sovereignty, and how much of the latter the 17 countries that use the euro, and the 11 others in the European Union, are prepared to abandon to make a success of their project. | The euro crisis, in this view, is about politics and sovereignty, and how much of the latter the 17 countries that use the euro, and the 11 others in the European Union, are prepared to abandon to make a success of their project. |
| Mr. Fischer sees Germany, and Europe, as stuck midway while crossing a river, unable to return to the riverbank they have left, but unable to get to the other side with Ms. Merkel as navigator. | Mr. Fischer sees Germany, and Europe, as stuck midway while crossing a river, unable to return to the riverbank they have left, but unable to get to the other side with Ms. Merkel as navigator. |
| Other analysts suggested that neither the chancellor nor most Germans, who are conservative by nature and relish their position as the economic powerhouse of Europe, were prepared to shoulder such leadership. | Other analysts suggested that neither the chancellor nor most Germans, who are conservative by nature and relish their position as the economic powerhouse of Europe, were prepared to shoulder such leadership. |
| The election outcome Sunday “is the safest course for a country like Germany,” Annette Heuser, the executive director of the Bertelsmann Foundation, said in a telephone interview from Washington. The mentality, she said, is “Why rock the boat?” | The election outcome Sunday “is the safest course for a country like Germany,” Annette Heuser, the executive director of the Bertelsmann Foundation, said in a telephone interview from Washington. The mentality, she said, is “Why rock the boat?” |
| Yet the elections also hinted at more volatility in German politics, with the Greens, for example, tumbling from 20 percent-plus showings two years ago to around 8 percent on Sunday. | Yet the elections also hinted at more volatility in German politics, with the Greens, for example, tumbling from 20 percent-plus showings two years ago to around 8 percent on Sunday. |
| Germany’s European allies have been in suspense, waiting for the Continent’s most important election this year. President François Hollande of France indicated how eager, even impatient, they are when he congratulated Ms. Merkel from Paris and invited her to visit as soon as possible. Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, who hopes Ms. Merkel will support his quest to claw back rights from Europe’s regulators in Brussels, posted his congratulations on Twitter, adding, “I’m looking forward to continuing to work closely with her.” | Germany’s European allies have been in suspense, waiting for the Continent’s most important election this year. President François Hollande of France indicated how eager, even impatient, they are when he congratulated Ms. Merkel from Paris and invited her to visit as soon as possible. Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, who hopes Ms. Merkel will support his quest to claw back rights from Europe’s regulators in Brussels, posted his congratulations on Twitter, adding, “I’m looking forward to continuing to work closely with her.” |
| The next most pressing change on the European agenda is probably a banking union, on which Germany has not pushed hard. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who with Ms. Merkel has guided his country through the euro crisis, went on television Sunday night to assure European partners that Germany would continue to play its reliable part in the Continent’s affairs, but mentioned no specifics. | |
| Jan Techau, director of Carnegie Europe in Brussels, was in Germany for the election and said the vote on Sunday meant that it would be winter before Europe resumed any overhauls. | Jan Techau, director of Carnegie Europe in Brussels, was in Germany for the election and said the vote on Sunday meant that it would be winter before Europe resumed any overhauls. |
| While the chancellor has talked often of “more Europe,” lately she has shown little appetite for political restructuring that would require complex changes to the treaties that govern the European Union, Mr. Techau noted. | While the chancellor has talked often of “more Europe,” lately she has shown little appetite for political restructuring that would require complex changes to the treaties that govern the European Union, Mr. Techau noted. |
| Her major goal is “to get out of this crisis in one piece,” he said. “This muddling through can continue for a while.” | Her major goal is “to get out of this crisis in one piece,” he said. “This muddling through can continue for a while.” |
Melissa Eddy contributed reporting. | Melissa Eddy contributed reporting. |