German elections: Colourful coalitions

What colours will be flown by the new government in Germany? The polls say no one party will win an overall majority, so it’ll have to be a coalition, based on results at the ballot box, and party preferences. To shed a little light on the matter, Euronews spoke to political analyst Thomas Fischer:

“It’s looking like the FDP, the liberals, are going to play the key role. All the polls point to a small majority for a coalition between Chancellor Merkel’s CDU and the FDP, and that the recent CDU/SPD grand coalition will be abandoned.” The Chancellor appears to have an increasingly good chance of keeping her job if she goes with Guido Westerwelle’s FDP. But could the Greens jump the queue ahead of him? “Last week the Greens ruled out what’s being called a ‘Jamaican’ coalition, a green/black/yellow tie-up involving them, the CDU and the Liberals,” said Fischer. “The Greens don’t like the Liberals, but they haven’t entirely rejected the idea of a pact with the CDU.” Then again, what about an all-left coalition, between Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s social democrats, the leftists of Oskar Lafontaine and the Greens? “No, a coalition between the SPD, the Left and the Greens won’t happen even if it’s still mathematically possible,” said Fischer. “Because the SPD won’t work with the Left at the moment. But there could be a new grand coalition between the SPD and the CDU and then, halfway through the parliament, the SPD jumps ship and links up with the Left and the Greens. A red/red/green coalition like that could happen if the old guard at the head of the SPD are replaced by younger, more radical left-wingers in their party.” Finally, what does Fischer think of the chance of a red/yellow/green coalition of the SPD, the liberal FDP and the Greens? “Yes, we can speculate on the chances of a deal between the SPD and the liberals, and then they invite the Greens. That would give Germany a red/yellow/green ‘traffic light’ coalition. However, in that case there would soon undoubtedly be tensions and rivalries between the junior partners in such a tie-up, that is between the liberals and the Greens.”

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