Agency Report –
Germany is inching ever closer to a new government, with a deadline for the Social Democrats (SPD) to vote on a coalition deal looming on Tuesday evening, the final hurdle before chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz can take the helm in Berlin next week.
Merz’s conservatives and the SPD struck a coalition agreement earlier this month, following the conservatives’ victory in snap elections in February.
Both Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), have already signed off on the deal, meaning all eyes are on the SPD.
Despite strong criticism from the party’s youth wing, it is seen as likely that the SPD base will also green-light the agreement, amid the looming threat of the Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The far-right party, which finished second in February’s vote, has been surging in recent opinion polls and would likely benefit if the SPD rejects the deal and new elections are possibly called.
The approximately 358,000 SPD members have until 11:59 pm (2159 GMT) on Tuesday to vote on the 144-page agreement entitled “Responsibility for Germany.” The result is set to be announced on Wednesday.
In order to pass, not only a majority of members needs to approve the programme, but at least 20% of the party’s membership must vote.
SPD Secretary General Matthias Miersch said Monday that this share has been achieved, but cautioned against premature optimism.
If the SPD OKs the deal, Merz is set to be elected chancellor by parliament on May 6.
It would pave the way for the new government to take office exactly six months after the current centre-left coalition imploded over the sacking of finance minister Christian Lindner.
Together, the conservatives and the SPD only hold a narrow majority of 328 of 630 seats in the new Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament.
Merz has vowed a change of course in economic and migration policy, set to be the two main issues facing the incoming administration domestically.
Both the ailing economy, projected to stagnate in 2025 following two consecutive years of recession, as well as a heated debate over the asylum system dominated the short-lived campaign.
Abroad, the conservative leader, who has no previous experience in federal government, will have to figure out how to deal with US President Donald Trump, who is seemingly intent on upending geopolitics and markets, while Russian President Vladimir Putin appears as unaffected as ever by European attempts to halt the war in Ukraine.
