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Thread: Merkel's "Jamaica Coalition" Collapses

  1. #1

    Merkel's "Jamaica Coalition" Collapses

    Bloomberg reports Merkel's efforts at forming a coalition have failed meaning a second election looms and sending the euro sliding.

    After a 12-hour negotiating session that ended shortly before midnight Sunday, the Free Democratic Party walked out of the exploratory talks, saying the differences with the Green party were too great to bridge.
    Merkel has sought for four weeks to enlist the two smaller parties for her fourth-term coalition.
    “It’s better not to govern than to govern badly,” FDP head Christian Lindner told reporters in Berlin.
    No further coalition talks were scheduled, he said. There was no immediate comment from Merkel.

    More at: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-1...0%9D-collapses
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment



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  3. #2
    Merkel Admits "New Elections Are The Better Way"

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-20/gold-euro-slump-merkel-admits-new-elections-are-better-way
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  4. #3
    Merkel Tanks In German Polls As Critical Discussions Take Place With SPD

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-23/merkel-tanks-german-polls-critical-discussions-take-place-spd
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  5. #4
    Germany’s biggest opposition party, the Social Democrats, on Friday morning announced a reversal in their political strategy and said they are open to talks on backing a government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, offering a way to break the Berlin deadlock and restore political stability to Europe’s biggest economy. As the FT reports, the decision, announced after an eight-hour meeting of SPD leaders in party headquarters in Berlin wrapped up in the early hours of Friday, marks a U-turn for the centre-left party, which had vowed since September’s indecisive general election not to rejoin Ms Merkel’s centre-right bloc in a “grand coalition”.
    Commenting on the latest political development, UBS economist Paul Donovan said that "the German SPD are discussing the possibility of some kind of support for the CDU, following talks with the German president. The German political crisis is not really looking very crisis-like. It is all very orderly and, frankly, a little dull."
    Social Democrat Secretary General Hubertus Heil told reporters that the party is ready to start discussions if that’s the course that President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is trying to broker a deal, decides upon. Heil spoke after an eight-hour meeting of the SPD leadership in Berlin. “The SPD is firmly convinced that talks are needed,” Heil was quoted as saying by Deutsche Presse-Agentur newswire. “The SPD won’t reject such talks.”

    More at: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-1...tical-deadlock
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  6. #5
    Merkel in CRISIS: Chancellor loses favour with OWN PARTY membership

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/886853/Angela-Merkel-CDU-leader-crisis-party-membership-discord
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  7. #6
    MERKEL’S DISASTER: Chancellor coalition hopes now hit by COUP in Germany

    Her Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), is now engaged in a bitter struggle for power.
    Rebels in the party have attempted to seize control from leader Horst Seehofer, a key Merkel ally.
    And they now want Markus Soder to head up the party, a man who is less keen on the Chancellor’s immigration policy, according to the Telegraph.

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/world...Horst-Seehofer
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  8. #7
    Merkel's diversity barriers in Europe. Happy holidays.




  9. #8
    On Foreign Policy, Lets Stop Waiting for U.S. Decisions, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel Says
    https://www.usnews.com/news/world/ar...-minister-says




    Let's search for own policy towards Russia, leave the USA behind...

    Says Germany will no longer agree to sanctions against Russia which hit Germany and will counter the US decisions against Iran...



    "We must lay out our positions ourselves and where necessary draw red lines - among partners but also based on our own interests," Gabriel is scheduled to say.

    Gabriel will give the example of the sanctions against Russia that the U.S. Congress agreed on in summer and which could ultimately affect Germany's energy supply because they affect Russian pipelines.

    Gabriel also warned against ending the nuclear deal with Iran, saying this would increase the risk of war and affect national security. Trump has refused to certify that Tehran was complying with the accord even though inspectors said it was.

    "In both cases Germany can no longer afford to wait for decisions in Washington or to simply react to that," Gabriel will say, adding that Germany must analyze where it "disagrees" with the US.

    Gabriel's Social Democrat (SPD) party has said it will launch talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives on forming a government next week if members of his center-left party gave him the green light at a congress this weekend.



    (beginnings.... EU joining the Russia-China Bloc...)



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by goldenequity View Post
    (beginnings.... EU joining the Russia-China Bloc...)
    The EU will break up over this issue if some other issue doesn't break it first.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  12. #10
    Horst Seehofer, the leader of Mrs Merkel’s Bavarian sister party the CSU, admitted defeat in a long-running power struggle on Monday afternoon.
    Mr Seehofer agreed to step down as prime minister of Bavaria before elections in 2018, abdicating to make way for a more right-wing rival, Markus Söder.
    He will stay on as CSU party leader, however, and could gain a ministerial position in Mrs Merkel’s next government.
    He had been under pressure to resign since Germany’s September election, which saw the CSU, and Mrs Merkel’s CDU, lose ground to the right.


    The two men are notorious political enemies, which made giving up power a difficult decision for Mr Seehofer.
    Their deep-seated rivalry was particularly bitter in 2015, when Angela Merkel let over a million refugees into Germany.
    Both men opposed the move, however Mr Söder’s criticism was particularly venomous, winning him the backing of the party’s right.
    He is now expected to bring the party’s platform away from the centre - potentially creating a headache for Angela Merkel as she attempts to form a “grand coalition”.


    The Chancellor is generally considered to be on the left of the party, and has brought it towards the centre on issues such as immigration.
    However the movement of powers to Mr Söder could make it harder for her to hold the same stances.
    Mrs Merkel could begin coalition negotiations with the left-wing SPD in the coming days, and will have to reconcile the parties on difficult issues such as immigration.
    Reconciling Mr Söder’s hardline anti-immigration stance with the SPD’s more open view could prove difficult.

    More at: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world...ion-right-wing
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    The EU will break up over this issue if some other issue doesn't break it first.
    You can make an argument either way...
    imo..
    Germany is the locomotive.. the train will follow, circling the wagons against Brexit + Trump
    or go off the tracks altogether as you say.
    The EU is lured by the Euro Asian markets... they need them.
    Iran is icing on the cake for Total/France.
    Northstream II for Germany.
    The NATO 'drums' can only beat so loud... Europe is growing tired of it.
    We'll see.....
    Italy is pro Russia as well.

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by goldenequity View Post
    You can make an argument either way...
    imo..
    Germany is the locomotive.. the train will follow, circling the wagons against Brexit + Trump
    or go off the tracks altogether as you say.
    The EU is lured by the Euro Asian markets... they need them.
    Iran is icing on the cake for Total/France.
    Northstream II for Germany.
    The NATO 'drums' can only beat so loud... Europe is growing tired of it.
    We'll see.....
    Italy is pro Russia as well.
    Too many countries like Poland will never accept an EU that is buddies with Russia
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    Too many countries like Poland will never accept an EU that is buddies with Russia
    I would say re: Poland..
    that the political 'voice' of Poland is Western manipulated... (no surprise)
    that the 'people' of Poland are at least split on the issue... many are 'awake'..
    and that the Vatican has a huge influence as well.
    I doubt they would completely isolate themselves should the EU pivot/soften toward Russia.
    Things are in flux...
    w/ immigration playing a huge role against the NWO/Brussel/Atlantacist plans.
    Sovereignty and Nationalism are on the rise
    and THAT works in FAVOR of devolving the EU back to a trading bloc (only).
    Everybody is sick of Brussel's dictates.

    I also think that the population of Poland has watched what has happened to their neighbor Ukraine..
    and that has been a wake-up call against the 'charms' of the West.
    Last edited by goldenequity; 12-05-2017 at 06:52 PM.

  16. #14
    The Free Democratic Party appears the best of the options.

    Piss on the nationalist retards.

  17. #15
    The Berlin branch of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) voted against the formation of a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union parties, Financial Times reported Jan. 16. The vote occurred two days after a similar vote by the SPD branch in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which also voted against coalition talks.

    More at: https://worldview.stratfor.com/situa...oalition-talks
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  18. #16
    "Let it not be said that we did nothing." - Dr. Ron Paul. "Stand up for what you believe in, even if you are standing alone." - Sophie Magdalena Scholl
    "War is the health of the State." - Randolph Bourne "Freedom is the answer. ... Now, what's the question?" - Ernie Hancock.



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  20. #17
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g...KBN1F61NC?il=0

    German Social Democrats see progress in push for coalition talks with Merkel


    BERLIN (Reuters) - The leader of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) cited progress on Wednesday in a bid to win support for formal talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and some colleagues said rejecting a coalition would further hurt party ratings.

    SPD members will vote on Sunday on whether to back coalition talks with the conservatives.

    Last week they agreed to a coalition blueprint but some in the party say it does not bear sufficient hallmarks of their party and they would be better off in opposition.

    SPD leader Martin Schulz is criss-crossing the country to convince delegates at the conference in Bonn to give him a mandate to pursue formal coalition talks in the face of a strong backlash from the party’s left and youth wings.

    Schulz said he was upbeat after a meeting with SPD members in the southern state of Bavaria on Wednesday, following stops this week in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which will send about a quarter of the delegates.

    “The mood was excellent,” he told reporters, saying discussions were lively but resulted in broad support for the blueprint he had agreed with the conservatives.
    SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil said he understood party scepticism about a re-run of the ‘grand coalition’ that governed Germany in the last four years but warned against the alternative.

    “Before voting at the party congress SPD delegates should be aware that there are only two realistic scenarios: negotiating further or new elections,” he told Die Zeit weekly’s online edition.

    The SPD had planned to reinvent itself in opposition after a poor election showing in September but was persuaded to enter the talks when Merkel’s attempt to form a coalition with two smaller parties failed in November.

    SLIDING IN POLLS

    The latest INSA poll showed the SPD slipping to 18.5 percent, its worst result in that particular survey, and weaker still than the 20.5 percent it achieved in September’s election - which was its poorest performance since 1933.
    More at link.

  21. #18
    Support For SPD Dives: German Coalition Doubts Mount

    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...n-doubts-mount
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  22. #19
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-martin-schulz

    Germany Coalition Deal with SPD Reached

    Angela Merkel has taken a crucial step towards ending a four-month period of political uncertainty by reaching a coalition agreement with the centre-left Social Democrats – but at the cost of giving the party a greater role in government.

    Following a marathon of all-night dealmaking sessions and several missed deadlines, Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union on Wednesday agreed on the terms of a fresh deal with the SPD, whose supporters will now get a final say on the agreement through a membership vote.

    But the prize of a renewed “grand coalition” is likely to come at the cost of ceding key ministries to her junior coalition partner, exposing the German chancellor to criticism from her own party.

    The SPD leader, Martin Schulz, can be optimistic about rallying support for a new term in government after securing three influential trophy ministries. The draft coalition deal foresees the centre-left party filling the finance, foreign and labour ministries, as well as the roles for family, justice and the environment.

    Schulz, who had ruled out playing a role in a Merkel government in the immediate aftermath of last year’s elections, is reportedly planning to hand his party leadership to the former labour minister Andrea Nahles and take charge of the foreign ministry himself.

    The SPD mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz, seen as a pragmatic centrist from the party’s liberal wing, is set to succeed the powerful Wolfgang Schäuble in the finance ministry, a key role for the future direction of the eurozone.

    The draft coalition agreement hints at a departure from Schäuble’s hawkish focus on balanced budgets, promising a “solidaristic sharing of responsibilities” and a preparedness to increase German contributions to the EU budget.

    At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Merkel said that divvying up ministries had “not been easy” and acknowledged her party’s disgruntlement at the loss of the finance ministry.

    “I’d wager that the SPD didn’t even believe it could get the finance ministry when the negotiations started,” the veteran CDU politician Wolfgang Bosbach told German media on Wednesday. “The CDU should have insisted on keeping the positions it already had.”

    A boosted interior ministry with an additional focus on housing construction and life in regional areas has meanwhile reportedly been handed to Horst Seehofer of the Bavaria-based CSU, the Christian Democrats’ sister party – a consistent critic of Merkel’s policy course during the refugee crisis.

    Such a constellation would leave Merkel’s own party with only the roles for the economy, defence, health, education and agriculture, and no truly high-profile ministries apart from her own chancellory.

  23. #20
    Centre left social democrats ? that is like one step better than leprosy .

  24. #21
    @zerohedge
    SPD'S SCHULZ SAYS HE'S QUITTING AS PARTY CHAIRMAN AS OF TODAY: BBG

  25. #22
    28-year-old student tries to derail next German government

    If Kuehnert gets his way, the 463,723 members of the SPD will reject the pact when results are released this weekend, following weeks of tireless campaigning across the country with the message that the party needs to get back to its socialist roots and not compromise to form a new "grand coalition" with Merkel — condensed to #NoGroKo for social media purposes.
    "There's a whole generation in Germany who has not experienced anything but Angela Merkel as chancellor," Kuehnert told The Associated Press at his party headquarters in Berlin, occasionally sipping coffee from a big white mug as he ruminated.
    "They grew up with the sense that there's somebody at the top of this country who permanently delays decisions about important issues.


    Resistance to a new grand coalition from within the Social Democrats forced the party to hold a special congress last month, where delegates voted 362 to 279 in favor of opening talks with Merkel's conservatives — a blow to Kuehnert and other opponents.
    Now the entire membership is voting by mail on whether to approve the deal that the two sides worked out. Voting ends Friday and the results are to be announced Sunday.

    More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/28-old-st...074122723.html
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  26. #23
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43276732

    Germany coalition deal: Merkel set to lead fourth government

    The vote by 464,000 rank-and-file members ends five months of political deadlock since September's election.

    The SPD had been split between the party's leadership, which backed joining the coalition, and its radical youth wing, which did not.

    Mrs Merkel, who has been in power for 12 years, congratulated the SPD.

    On her party's Twitter feed. she said she "looks forward to working together again for the benefit of our country".

    SPD voters approved continuing the coalition with 66% in favour. The party leadership had been concerned younger voters might veto a deal. Vote counting went on through the night at the party headquarters in Berlin.

    Interim SPD leader Olaf Scholz declared: "Now we have clarity. The SPD will enter the next government".
    More at link.

  27. #24



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  29. #25
    AFD is now the largest opposition party, I believe that gives them special privileges.
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment

  30. #26
    "Notice how the Germans, after months and months, suddenly form a coalition agreement a day before the Italian election?

    Merkel will take the new political winners in Italy into a room and threaten them in the same was as they did with Greece. Obey or we'll shut your banks down.

    Italy will have to leave the Euro currency if they want to take back any sort of control and deport even a fraction of the economic migrants."

  31. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsmyth View Post
    AFD is now the largest opposition party, I believe that gives them special privileges.
    Only if they are invited to join the ruling coalition- and they weren't.

    They do qualify as the "opposition party" but the only privilege they get is the right to respond first if somebody makes a speech.

    https://www.thelocal.de/20180305/the...nd-poor-german

    The AfD: Germany’s new opposition hampered by sloppy research and poor German

    When the Alternative for Germany (AfD) rode a wave of anger at Germany’s refugee policies to win 12.6 percent of the vote in last year’s election, they promised to “hunt down” the mainstream parties. So far their record has been rather less effective.

    After the Social Democrats voted to join a new coalition government with Angela Merkel on Sunday, they paved the way for the far-right AfD to become the official opposition in the Bundestag.

    The AfD are the largest party in the Bundestag outside of the SPD and Merkel's Christian Union, meaning they take over the role of opposition enjoyed by Die Linke during the last parliament.

    This is largely a ceremonial task - the opposition have the first right to reply to a parliamentary speech by the government. Unlike in Britain for instance, there is no shadow cabinet in Germany. But being opposition ensures more public exposure for the AfD than for the Free Democrats (FDP), the Greens and Die Linke, the other small parties in the current parliament.

    Just how effective the AfD will be in the role remains to be seen. Their leader, Alexander Gauland, boisterously claimed that the AfD would “hunt down” the establishment when election results rolled in last September.

    But since they first took up seats in the Bundestag a month later, their parliamentary record has displayed an often embarrassing lack of research, critics say.

    Opposing politicians initially decried the “nationalist tone” of the AfD's Bundestag rhetoric. More recently, though, they have complained about poor research and the imprecise wording of their proposed legal changes.

    In a recent debate on the reduction of bureaucracy for tradesmen for example, the AfD had to be instructed by other MPs that the problems they raised had already been dealt within under a law which came into force in January.

    The wording of the AfD's official statements has also become a source of mirth among their opponents.

    In a press release on German prostitution laws, AfD MP Martin Sichert said that the consequences of the prostitution law of 2002 were “more than sober” (he meant to say sobering). Sichert failed to mention in the press release that the law was updated in 2016 to reflect what the government itself found to be significant failings in the 2002 version.

    Kay Gottschalk, deputy chair of the AfD, said that some of the complaints were a strategy by the other parties to humiliate them, but he conceded that there was “room for improvement”.

    “Beginners are allowed to make mistakes. We still haven’t hired into all the assistant and researcher roles we have advertised,” he said.

    Gottschalk claimed that it has been hard to find the right people for the roles as many candidates have dropped out, fearing what having the AfD on their CV would do for their future career prospects.

  32. #28
    Angela Merkel's historic fourth term as chancellor of Germany isn't off to a good start. The parliament elected her to another four-year term March 14, but she won the post by a bare majority of nine votes. The grand coalition of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) controls 399 seats. Merkel needed 355 votes and she got 364. That weak support, coming six months after parliamentary elections, reflects the lingering opposition to the alliance and bodes ill for domestic legislation and European Union negotiations.
    While Merkel's position should be safe — the German system makes it hard for the opposition to oust a chancellor — her government is facing an uphill battle complicated by dissent within the coalition. Since the vote in the Bundestag was secret, it is impossible to know which members of the coalition voted against her or whether she received support from opposition parties. The SPD has been internally divided on joining the alliance, and some of its members may still oppose it. In addition, members of the CDU and the CSU have already criticized the SPD's positions on domestic spending and EU reform. These disputes may lead the conservatives and the Social Democrats to try to differentiate their positions to become more attractive in a future election.

    More at: https://worldview.stratfor.com/artic...csu-chancellor
    Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

    Robert Heinlein

    Give a man an inch and right away he thinks he's a ruler

    Groucho Marx

    I love mankind…it’s people I can’t stand.

    Linus, from the Peanuts comic

    You cannot have liberty without morality and morality without faith

    Alexis de Torqueville

    Those who fail to learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
    Those who learn from the past are condemned to watch everybody else repeat it

    A Zero Hedge comment



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