Germany set to learn who will be next chancellor

Reuters ^ | 10/10/05 | Philip Blenkinsop

[Valin]

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans are expected to learn on Monday who will take charge of their country, after talks between Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and conservative rival Angela Merkel aimed at settling the bitter leadership feud.

Schroeder and Social Democrat (SPD) chairman Franz Muentefering are to sit down for a third, and probably final, time from 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Monday with Merkel and her ally, Christian Social Union (CSU) leader Edmund Stoiber.

The four party heavyweights ended a second round of discussions shortly before midnight on Sunday and left without saying a word. They had cautioned last week that no announcement would be made before Monday.

Three weeks after an election which gave neither the conservatives nor the SPD enough votes to rule with their preferred allies, analysts predict they will eventually strike a deal to make Merkel Germany's first woman chancellor.

The SPD would yield their prime bargaining chip, Schroeder, to gain key ministerial posts and as many seats in cabinet as Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their CSU partners.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, deputy parliamentary leader of the conservatives, told reporters on Sunday that the conservatives would walk away from the table unless Schroeder, 61, ended his seven years in office.

"I think Schroeder has understood that he will not remain federal chancellor," Schaeuble said.

The leaders are expected to hold consultative sessions with their parties both before and after Monday's discussion round.

A deal over who leads Germany would open the door to detailed coalition talks over three weeks after the most inconclusive election result in post-war German history.

The talks to forge a power-sharing coalition of the country's two largest parties, dubbed a "grand coalition", are likely to drag into November.

CONSERVATIVE CONCESSIONS?

The conservatives won four more seats in parliament than the SPD in September's election, but the personal battle between Schroeder and Merkel has left Germany in a political limbo that economists say could harm its struggling economy.

German gross domestic product is expected to grow just 1 percent this year, the weakest rate in the 25-nation European Union. Unemployment hit a post-war high in February of over 5.2 million people, 12.6 percent of the workforce.

Financial markets have been watching the talks closely to see how far Merkel, who had advocated a further shake-up of the labour market, will have to water down her reform agenda to appease the SPD and secure the chancellorship.

If Merkel makes too many concessions it could delay or scupper some changes which Germany, dubbed by some critics the "sick man of Europe", urgently needs to boost its growth rate, financial analysts say.

The lack of word from the first round of talks between Schroeder, Muentefering, Merkel and Stoiber, has not stopped Germany's media speculating on what deal they might agree.

Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported on Sunday, without giving its sources, that Schroeder could become foreign minister and vice-chancellor in a Merkel-led cabinet.

Schaeuble told journalists on Sunday he expected the conservatives would yield the foreign ministry to the SPD.

[Dog Gone]

German gross domestic product is expected to grow just 1 percent this year, the weakest rate in the 25-nation European Union.

When Latvia is kicking your butt, you need to re-evaluate.

[spinestein]

[A deal over who leads Germany would open the door to detailed coalition talks over three weeks after the most inconclusive election result in post-war German history. The talks to forge a power-sharing coalition of the country's two largest parties, dubbed a "grand coalition", are likely to drag into November.]




Ideally, when one candidate gets more votes than any other candidate, that candidate wins the election.

If there is a dispute over the results, it should be resolved by the courts according to accepted election law.

But instead, the candidates negotiate with each other over who gets how much power?

One would have thought they would have this type of problem fixed by now after that one incident with that guy who lost the election and who Von Hindenburg negotiated with anyway in a power sharing agreement.

[Michael81Dus]

This is not a majority vote, neither Merkel nor Schröder have a majority in parliament. So, in coalition talks between Schröders and Merkels parties, they had to determine who´ll be Chancellor. Today, and agreement has been reached. The strongest party in parliament, the CDU/CSU will get the Chancellor, so prepare for the first female Chancellor of Germany: Dr. Angela Merkel!!