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23 Sep 2013
Merkel emerges victorious, bumpy road lies ahead...
FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Exit polls leave no room for doubt about Merkel's CDU/CSU party being the triumphing in the German elections, winning over 42.5% of the vote, however, there are still some uncertainties.
As things stand, it appears that Merkel's hopes of governing 'solo' will remain a daydream, and reality is that they will have to seek a grand coalition with the Social Democrats - estimated to have won 26% - after Merkel's favourite liberal party - FPD - failing to get enough votes to make it into parliament, thus putting in jeopardy Merkel's ideal pro-authoritarian EU program.
Another impediment for Merkel would be that the anti-Euro German AFD gets more than 5% of the votes, an outcome still too close to call, 4.8/4.9% as per the latest ZDF exit polls. If the anti-Euro AFD enters parliament, a "Grand Coalition" is the most likely outcome, which as a historical reference, took around 3 weeks to be formed in 2005.
In the first election editorial to be posted on Spiegel Online, Berlin bureau chief Roland Nelles writes, "Merkel is the paramount winner ... Germany is now conclusively Angela Merkel territory."
However, as Daryl Lindsey from the Siegel notes: "Merkel faces significant challenges, as an absolute majority has not been confirmed and a grand coalition government with the Social Democrats also poses a number of problems."
Back to Nelles, who adds: "In a grand coalition, she would have to govern with a humiliated SPD, who would want to do pretty much everything differently than the last time around. Then, the SPD did the work and Merkel took the credit."
As Nelles notes, this time around, "the SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel and his colleagues would be opposition in government from the start. This alliance would be a shaky from day one. Merkel can enjoy this triumph, but problems are already waiting for her. The euro crisis will come back to the fore."
As things stand, it appears that Merkel's hopes of governing 'solo' will remain a daydream, and reality is that they will have to seek a grand coalition with the Social Democrats - estimated to have won 26% - after Merkel's favourite liberal party - FPD - failing to get enough votes to make it into parliament, thus putting in jeopardy Merkel's ideal pro-authoritarian EU program.
Another impediment for Merkel would be that the anti-Euro German AFD gets more than 5% of the votes, an outcome still too close to call, 4.8/4.9% as per the latest ZDF exit polls. If the anti-Euro AFD enters parliament, a "Grand Coalition" is the most likely outcome, which as a historical reference, took around 3 weeks to be formed in 2005.
In the first election editorial to be posted on Spiegel Online, Berlin bureau chief Roland Nelles writes, "Merkel is the paramount winner ... Germany is now conclusively Angela Merkel territory."
However, as Daryl Lindsey from the Siegel notes: "Merkel faces significant challenges, as an absolute majority has not been confirmed and a grand coalition government with the Social Democrats also poses a number of problems."
Back to Nelles, who adds: "In a grand coalition, she would have to govern with a humiliated SPD, who would want to do pretty much everything differently than the last time around. Then, the SPD did the work and Merkel took the credit."
As Nelles notes, this time around, "the SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel and his colleagues would be opposition in government from the start. This alliance would be a shaky from day one. Merkel can enjoy this triumph, but problems are already waiting for her. The euro crisis will come back to the fore."