Germanyâs SPD Backs Merkel Coalition Talks After Divisive Vote
Angela Merkel
Germanyâs Social Democrats backed formal coalition talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel after a divisive party convention  marking a potential breakthrough toward her fourth term.
 Merkel  hailed the âpositive resultâ in Bonn before meeting with fellow leaders of  her  CDU in Berlin to lay out the negotiating path ahead. With coalition talks able to begin as soon as Tuesday  the end of a four-month political stalemate is on the horizon  enabling  Merkel  to move toward re-inauguration possibly by mid-March. The euro rose in early Asian trading.
Sundayâs convention had been seen as the biggest obstacle to  Merkel âs plan to govern with the SPD   her  partner of the past four years. Yet the vote was carried only after pledges by the leadership to win greater concessions from  Merkelâs  bloc in the talks to come. The upshot is that the partyâs decision to give its members the final say over any coalition pact is emerging as a bigger-than-expected hurdle to a renewal of the grand coalition.
Five hours of impassioned debate pitted establishment figures against young and leftist grass-roots members  who rejected governing with  Merkel  in favor of a period of renewal in opposition. Kevin Kuehnert  head of the SPDâs youth wing  argued that such a course âcan be the beginning of a new story that we write together.â
Schulz  who led the SPD to its worst result since World War II in Septemberâs inconclusive election  made the case for another tie-up by pledging to press  Merkel âs bloc for expanded commitments on health care  hardship rules for refugees who want to bring family members to Germany and curbing layoffs of temporary workers.
A go-ahead from party members is far from guaranteed  said Matthias Miersch  head of the SPDâs left-wing caucus.  Merkel âs bloc ânow has to shiftâ on policy  he said.
 Merkel  is already returning to the world stage  visiting French President Emmanuel Macron last Friday and scheduling her first speech in three years to the World Economic Forum in Davos  Switzerland  for Wednesday.
Dealing with the record influx of more than 1 million refugees since 2015 may pose a more pressing challenge to a coalition of  Merkel  and the Social Democrats  who have governed together for eight of her 12 years in office. Germans view migration as the most urgent matter for the next government to deal with  according to an Infratest Dimap poll for Handelsblatt newspaper published this month.
For  Merkel   the Social Democratic vote offers some relief  Carsten Nickel  a managing director with Teneo Intelligence in Brussels  said by email. âBut the real test is of course still ahead.â
Germanyâs Social Democrats backed formal coalition talks with  [TGT]  after a divisive party convention  marking a potential breakthrough toward her fourth term.
  [TGT] hailed the âpositive resultâ in Bonn before meeting with fellow leaders of  her  CDU in Berlin to lay out the negotiating path ahead. With coalition talks able to begin as soon as Tuesday  the end of a four-month political stalemate is on the horizon  enabling  Merkel  to move toward re-inauguration possibly by mid-March. The euro rose in early Asian trading.
Sundayâs convention had been seen as the biggest obstacle to   [TGT]  âs plan to govern with the SPD   her  partner of the past four years. Yet the vote was carried only after pledges by the leadership to win greater concessions from  Merkelâs  bloc in the talks to come. The upshot is that the partyâs decision to give its members the final say over any coalition pact is emerging as a bigger-than-expected hurdle to a renewal of the grand coalition.
Five hours of impassioned debate pitted establishment figures against young and leftist grass-roots members  who rejected governing with  Merkel  in favor of a period of renewal in opposition. Kevin Kuehnert  head of the SPDâs youth wing  argued that such a course âcan be the beginning of a new story that we write together.â
Schulz  who led the SPD to its worst result since World War II in Septemberâs inconclusive election  made the case for another tie-up by pledging to press  Merkel âs bloc for expanded commitments on health care  hardship rules for refugees who want to bring family members to Germany and curbing layoffs of temporary workers.
A go-ahead from party members is far from guaranteed  said Matthias Miersch  head of the SPDâs left-wing caucus.  Merkel âs bloc ânow has to shiftâ on policy  he said.
 Merkel  is already returning to the world stage  visiting French President Emmanuel Macron last Friday and scheduling her first speech in three years to the World Economic Forum in Davos  Switzerland  for Wednesday.
Dealing with the record influx of more than 1 million refugees since 2015 may pose a more pressing challenge to a coalition of  Merkel  and the Social Democrats  who have governed together for eight of her 12 years in office. Germans view migration as the most urgent matter for the next government to deal with  according to an Infratest Dimap poll for Handelsblatt newspaper published this month.
For  Merkel   the Social Democratic vote offers some relief  Carsten Nickel  a managing director with Teneo Intelligence in Brussels  said by email. âBut the real test is of course still ahead.â