Merkel 'to be German Chancellor'
Monday, 10 October 2005
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The Conservative leader Angela Merkel will become Germany's first woman chancellor under the terms of a power-sharing agreement that would end Social Democrat Gerhard Schröder's seven years in office, Social Democratic officials said today.
But Schröder's party extracted a high price for his backing down from demands to continue in office: they would get eight seats in the Cabinet, compared to six for Merkel's group.
The deal was approved by party leadership committees on both sides, party officials said. They must still be approved by party conferences and pass a vote in parliament once formal coalition negotiations are completed; parliament must meet by October 18, but might not actually vote until November.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Social Democrats would head the foreign, finance, labour, justice, health, transport, environment and development ministries.
Merkel's Christian Democrats and their Bavaria-only allies, the Christian Social Union, would get the defence, interior, agriculture, families and education portfolios. The CSU leader, Edmund Stoiber, would become economy minister. Other than that, officials did not say who would occupy which ministerial post.
Such a coalition would create a mixed government of left and right that some fear would be unable to take decisive, potentially unpopular measures to cut the burden Germany's welfare state imposes on businesses and job creation. It also raises questions of whether it can last the full four-year term of parliament, or if it will fall apart if the two former sets of opponents can't get along.
Schröder's future was not immediately clear. Asked whether he would announce his withdrawal from politics, his spokesman, Bela Anda, replied: "We will see what the day brings."
The agreement would end a three-week stand-off that began when voters ousted Schröder's ruling coalition of Social Democrats and Greens on September 18 but failed to give a majority to Merkel's preferred centre-right coalition.
That forced the Social Democrats and her Christian Democrats to seek a power-sharing deal across the left-right divide.
Merkel forced Schröder to drop his demand to be chancellor, saying that as head of the party with the largest number of seats, the job belonged to her. She would be the first woman to lead Germany and the first person from the formerly communist east to hold the job.
But she would see her ability to push through her agenda to reform the stagnating economy limited by sharing extensive power with her labour-backed former opponents, the Social Democrats.
Merkel and Stoiber met briefly with Schröder and his party chief Franz Muentefering in a third high-level meeting after running the preliminary deal past party officials early Monday. They were to consult further with party officials and then hold separate press conferences at 2.30pm (1330BST).
Parliament must convene by October 18 but is not obliged to vote immediately on a new chancellor, if coalition talks are still ongoing.
Merkel's forces have 226 votes in the 614-seat parliament, while the Social Democrats have 222. A coalition needs 308 seats for a majority.
Many Social Democrats had indicated that they would find it hard to support Merkel without gaining an exceptionally favourable coalition deal in return.
The prolonged negotiations have delayed action on Germany's problems with high unemployment and slow growth. Merkel campaigned on pledges to shake up Germany's highly regulated labour market and get the stagnant economy going again, and has promised to reinvigorate relations with the United States.
Schröder's party fought its way to a better-than-expected election result with pledges to protect the welfare state and workers' rights, and insists that a new government must combine "renewal and social justice." Schröder has highlighted his willingness to stand up to Washington, having opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq.
In several rounds of exploratory talks, the two parties nevertheless identified a string of fields where they believe they can work together, including reforming Germany's tangled federal system and shoring up the government's overdrawn finances.
