威力彩玩法

The Free Democratic Party (FDP) has pulled out of talks with the conservative CDU/CSU and the Green Party to form a new coalition government, despite progress on controversial energy and climate policy issues.

The talks鈥� collapse puts the Germany into unchartered political waters. 鈥淚t is better not to govern than to govern badly,鈥� FDP head Christian Lindner said, after he and his team walked out of negotiations shortly before midnight on Sunday. 鈥淭he four discussion partners have no common vision for the modernisation of the country, and lack a common basis of trust.鈥�

Extending deadline after deadline, negotiators over the weekend failed to reach tentative agreements on migration, climate, energy, transport and numerous other topics, in what so far have only been exploratory talks to form the next government. [Read the full story by the 威力彩玩法 here.]

The elections had left a so-called Jamaica coalition 鈥� named for the three parties鈥� colours that match those of the Jamaican flag 鈥� as the only possible majority government, after the Social Democrats ruled out another coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel鈥檚 conservative bloc.

鈥淚t is a day of deep reflection on how to go forward in Germany,鈥� Merkel told reporters. 鈥淎s acting chancellor, I will do everything to ensure this country is well managed in the difficult weeks to come.鈥�

Migration last sticking point 鈥� CDU secretary general

Migration has been a 鈥渃entral topic鈥� of the talks, Merkel said, but one on which her party鈥檚 differences with the FDP had 鈥渘ot been substantial鈥�.

鈥淲e believe we could have found a solution with the Greens in this area too,鈥� Merkel added.

CDU secretary general Peter Tauber said compromise had been reached in most areas. 鈥淭he last real contentious point was the right for refugees鈥� families to reunite in Germany, and the Greens had signalled they were ready for a compromise here.鈥�

Green Party and CSU leaders also said finding an agreement would have been possible, had the FDP not ended talks.

Greens Party co-chair Cem 脰zdemir said, 鈥淲e were ready to find a compromise until the very end and would have accepted making concessions where in fact no further concessions were possible. But that requires all partners to be ready to do that, and one partner wasn鈥檛.鈥�

Lack of trust

Justifying his party鈥檚 decision to end talks, FDP head Lindner said the four parties had not been able to find a common basis for trust. 鈥淎 basis for trust and a common idea would be the preconditions for stable governing,鈥� he said. 聽

German political scientist Oskar Niedermayer said he thinks all participants had been waiting for 鈥渙ne of the others to pull the plug鈥� since the beginning of the weekend, , 鈥渟o as to be able to put the blame on them.鈥� Ha added that was already happening, with both the Green Party and the CSU insisting compromise would have been possible if it hadn鈥檛 been for the FDP.

Christian Democratic member of parliament Joachim Pfeiffer said he had the impression that questions over individual issues had not been at the core of the pro-business FDP鈥檚 decision to pull out. 鈥淚t was about psychology and also about a lack of will to reach an agreement,鈥� Pfeiffer told energy professionals at the congress of the German Energy Agency dena in Berlin.

Andrea R枚mmele, political scientist at Hertie School of Governance, said 鈥渋t has been clear from the start that the FDP was the least keen to take on power. They were glad to return to parliament and get rid of the image to want power at all costs. They want to stand for their views.鈥�

The way forward: New elections or a minority government?

What will happen next is unclear, but Angela Merkel will stay in office as head of the current CDU-SPD government, which will carry out the official duties until a new cabinet is sworn in.

鈥淎n acting government is by no means a government without the ability to take action,鈥� government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said the morning after talks ended.

If the Social Democrats continue to reject a new 鈥済rand coalition鈥�, the only realistic options seem a minority government or new elections. It would be the first time either of things has happened in post-war Germany. [Find out more in this 威力彩玩法 factsheet.]

Germany鈥檚 federal parliament cannot dissolve itself to initiate new elections. The German constitution stipulates that Bundestag members must first attempt to elect a new chancellor with an absolute majority, before the German president can either name a chancellor to lead a minority government, or dissolve parliament and call new elections.

鈥淚 expect Merkel to stand for election as chancellor in the Bundestag, and the German president will then dissolve the parliament after a third ballot,鈥� political scientist Niedermayer said. New elections would then have to take place within 60 days.

that she prefered new elections over a minority government. She added that she was ready to stand again in the case of a fresh vote.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on all parties to pause for a moment. Domestically and outside Germany, there would be a lot of irritation and worries, should 鈥渢he political forces in Europe鈥檚 largest and economically strongest country not live up to their responsibility,鈥� he said in a televised speech. Building a new government was not a responsibility that could simply be handed back to citizens, he said, adding he would talk to party leaders in the coming days.

The CDU could discuss replacing Merkel鈥檚 as party leader, Niedermayer said, but there was still no credible alternative: 鈥淲ithin the CDU, there is no one who could just take over within the coming weeks.鈥� Her approval ratings continue to be far higher than those of anyone in her party. , Merkel received the backing by the CDU leadership in a conference call on Monday morning.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all speculation at the moment,鈥� Greens鈥� 脰zdemir said, adding that the first step for his party was to analyse what has happened. He added that the focus now was on the concerns of citizens, industry, and neighbouring countries. 鈥淕ermany used to be the haven of stability [鈥�] and one party has now decided that short-term political interests are more important than the interests of the country.鈥�

Talks didn鈥檛 collapse over climate and energy 鈥� politicians

Disagreements over energy and climate policy were not ultimately responsible for the collapse of coalition talks, representatives of three of the parties involved said at the dena congress in Berlin.

鈥淲e have debated a lot 鈥� energy and climate have been problematic,鈥� said Green member of parliament Oliver Krischer, part of the party鈥檚 negotiation team. 鈥淏ut we had reached a point where there was a lot of movement.鈥�

Free Democrat Henner Schmidt (not part of the party鈥檚 negotiation team), agreed, saying energy and climate were not what brought talks to an end, and that overall atmosphere seemed to have been more of an issue.聽

At the same event, Vattenfall CEO Tuomo Hatakka said the German energy transition would continue, regardless of which parties form the country鈥檚 next government.

All major political parties apart from the far-right AfD profess support for Germany鈥檚 shift from fossil fuel and nuclear power to a renewables-based energy system. But the level of ambition for the project will depend on the next coalition.

Late last week, the parties were struggling to find common ground on climate policy, with lignite a central sticking point. An offer by Merkel鈥檚 conservatives to cut coal-fired power production by 7 gigawatts (GW) by 2020 was rejected by the Green Party. The Conservatives and FDP initially offered a phase-out of 3 to 5 GW coal capacity, whereas the Greens said 8 to 10 GW were necessary to meet Germany's 2020 emission-reduction targets.

鈥淐limate is still party politics鈥� 鈥� analyst

Arne Jungjohann, energy analyst and a consultant for the German Green Party, said the talks鈥� failure dispelled the myth that all German parties are truly committed to fighting climate change 鈥� and that the FDP in particular was not ready to agree on robust policies for reaching existing climate targets.

鈥淐limate is still party politics,鈥� Jungjohann told the 威力彩玩法. However, the talks had brought Greens and Conservatives closer together. Both 鈥渓eft their comfort zone to find compromises, also on coal and climate. This lays a foundation for future cooperation,鈥� Jungjohann said.

Parts of the business community have voiced support of the FDP鈥檚 decision to pull out of the potential coalition.

鈥淥bviously, the chemistry between the partners wasn鈥檛 good enough to find a common political vision for Germany,鈥� the German Chemical Industry Assotiation VCI鈥檚 managing director Utz Tillmann said in a statement. 鈥淭hat is regrettable. But to stand up for political convictions instead of vague solutions deserves the same respect as the courage to compromise.鈥澛�