Deal to form coalition government in limbo until German party holds poll

CHANCELLOR ANGELA Merkel’s conservatives and Germany’s main centre-left party have reached an agreement to form a new coalition government after a final negotiating session that dragged on for 24 hours.

However, the deal between Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavariaonly sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the centre-left Social Democrats will not bring an immediate end to the political limbo following the September 24 election.

A deal will be put to a ballot of the Social Democrats’ more than 460,000 members, a process that will take a few weeks. Many members are sceptical after the party’s disastrous election result, which followed four years of a “grand coalition” with the party serving as junior partner to Mrs Merkel’s conservatives.

On the conservative side, Mrs Merkel needs only the approval of a party congress of her CDU – a far lower hurdle.

The country has already broken its post-Second World War record for the longest time between an election and the swearing-in of a new government.

The chancellor’s chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, said: “We have a coalition agreement that means positive things for many, many citizens.

“And now we all want to have a shower, because we have negotiated long and hard over the last few hours.”

A rejection of the deal by Social Democrat members would mean a minority government under Mrs Merkel or a new election.