German Chancellor Angela Merkel walked back her earlier comments about fresh elections on Saturday, saying it was “simply wrong” to ask German to vote again.
Speaking at a conference of her Christian Democrat (CDU) party, Merkel added that “Germany must have a stable government, but one which also pushes the country forward,” DW reported.
The chancellor was speaking on the heels of Germany’s most significant political turmoil in years – the breakdown of coalition talks between the CDU, the Green party and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) last week.
After disappointing results in September’s general election, and a refusal from rival Social Democrats (SPD) to enter into another “grand coalition,” the CDU approached the two smaller parties in order to form a majority government. However, after the FDP backed out of preliminary talks – citing ideological differences – Germany’s longtime leader has been left scrambling for a solution after two months without a new government.
To that end, last week Merkel commented that she would be open to new elections instead of creating a minority government.
About-Face
She appeared to walk back that statement on Saturday, however, telling her fellow CDU members that “if we can’t do anything with the (election) result, we cannot ask the people to vote again.”
Perhaps Merkel’s optimism that a coalition could still be salvaged from the September election was due to a change in tune from the SPD.
After four years ruling together with the CDU and receiving its worst ever results in the federal vote, the SPD announced that it had no intention to enter into another grand coalition and would prefer to remain an opposition voice in the Bundestag.
However, as the situation grows increasingly desperate and voters become more fed up with the lack of action in Berlin, the SPD has indicated that it may stay in power after all.
