This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/17/world/europe/merkels-options-narrow-as-greens-withdraw-from-talks.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Merkel’s Options Narrow as Greens Withdraw From Talks | Merkel’s Options Narrow as Greens Withdraw From Talks |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s options for building a new German government narrowed Wednesday after one of two potential coalition partners withdrew from talks, setting the stage for a possible grand coalition of her conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats. | BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s options for building a new German government narrowed Wednesday after one of two potential coalition partners withdrew from talks, setting the stage for a possible grand coalition of her conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats. |
| The decision by the Greens, one of the potential coalition partners, not to pursue further negotiations with Ms. Merkel’s party, the center-right Christian Democratic Union, and its Bavaria-only sister party, the Christian Social Union, does not mean that negotiations with the other potential partner, the Social Democrats, will be any swifter or easier. But it increases the pressure on the conservative bloc to compromise with the Social Democrats, who are demanding a high price for participation in a government. | |
| Conservative leaders said the Greens withdrew from coalition talks early Wednesday after concluding that differences over crucial issues, including a minimum wage, tax increases and changes to the public health insurance system, were too large to overcome. | |
| “We had to accept after these talks the Greens’ position that they are unable to recommend we enter into formal coalition negotiations,” Hermann Gröhe, general secretary of the Christian Democrats, told reporters. “We respect that, but at the same I think that these talks were important in terms of better understanding the other side.” | “We had to accept after these talks the Greens’ position that they are unable to recommend we enter into formal coalition negotiations,” Hermann Gröhe, general secretary of the Christian Democrats, told reporters. “We respect that, but at the same I think that these talks were important in terms of better understanding the other side.” |
| Although Ms. Merkel’s conservatives won a plurality with 41.5 percent of the vote in the Sept. 22 elections, they fell five seats short of a governing majority. The Greens, who got 8.4 percent of the vote, won enough seats to create a majority under Ms. Merkel if they entered a coalition. | Although Ms. Merkel’s conservatives won a plurality with 41.5 percent of the vote in the Sept. 22 elections, they fell five seats short of a governing majority. The Greens, who got 8.4 percent of the vote, won enough seats to create a majority under Ms. Merkel if they entered a coalition. |
| If the Social Democrats, who won 25.7 percent of the vote, enter into government with the chancellor’s bloc, the Greens will become a main opposition force, along with the Left party. The Greens remain one of the youngest parties in Germany’s political landscape and have never governed with the conservatives at the national level, although there have been coalitions between the two in municipal and state governments. Despite their roots in the leftist and environmental movements of the 1960s and ‘70s, the Greens have recently appealed to a more centrist audience, and the idea of a coalition had sparked the imaginations many younger conservatives. | If the Social Democrats, who won 25.7 percent of the vote, enter into government with the chancellor’s bloc, the Greens will become a main opposition force, along with the Left party. The Greens remain one of the youngest parties in Germany’s political landscape and have never governed with the conservatives at the national level, although there have been coalitions between the two in municipal and state governments. Despite their roots in the leftist and environmental movements of the 1960s and ‘70s, the Greens have recently appealed to a more centrist audience, and the idea of a coalition had sparked the imaginations many younger conservatives. |
| Nevertheless, a majority of Germans said even before the September vote that they preferred a government made up of the conservatives and the Social Democrats. Ms. Merkel governed in such a grand coalition of the two largest parties from 2005 to 2009, a period that many credit for the stability that set the country on a course to weather the global economic downturn largely unscathed. | Nevertheless, a majority of Germans said even before the September vote that they preferred a government made up of the conservatives and the Social Democrats. Ms. Merkel governed in such a grand coalition of the two largest parties from 2005 to 2009, a period that many credit for the stability that set the country on a course to weather the global economic downturn largely unscathed. |
| Mr. Gröhe said his party would approach the Social Democrats about holding a third round of preliminary discussions on Thursday, as differences remained after an eight-hour session on Monday. | |
| Although leading Christian Democrats said the talks on Monday night went well, Hannelore Kraft, a Social Democratic leader, reportedly clashed with the general secretary of the Bavarian Christian Social Union in an emotional exchange of words over benefits for families. | |
| Policies on taxes and government spending are the main sources of conflict between the two major parties. The conservatives have pledged not to raise taxes, but the Social Democrats have promised to increase spending for infrastructure and education, two areas where there is broad agreement that action is needed. A compromise may take the form of raising fees like highway tolls as a way of generating income while avoiding broad-based tax increases. | Policies on taxes and government spending are the main sources of conflict between the two major parties. The conservatives have pledged not to raise taxes, but the Social Democrats have promised to increase spending for infrastructure and education, two areas where there is broad agreement that action is needed. A compromise may take the form of raising fees like highway tolls as a way of generating income while avoiding broad-based tax increases. |
| The minimum wage is another issue that will require deft maneuvering, given the conservatives’ opposition to it and the Social Democrats’ insistence they will not participate in any government that does not guarantee fair pay for all workers in the form of a minimum wage. | The minimum wage is another issue that will require deft maneuvering, given the conservatives’ opposition to it and the Social Democrats’ insistence they will not participate in any government that does not guarantee fair pay for all workers in the form of a minimum wage. |
| Andrea Nahles, the Social Democrats’ general secretary, said Monday that the two sides were exploring a model used in Britain, where the government appoints an independent body to recommended a national wage rate, as way to reach a compromise on the issue. | Andrea Nahles, the Social Democrats’ general secretary, said Monday that the two sides were exploring a model used in Britain, where the government appoints an independent body to recommended a national wage rate, as way to reach a compromise on the issue. |
Alison Smale contributed reporting. | Alison Smale contributed reporting. |