Going Dutch: Look out, German coalition talks could be long
ABC News
As Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany embarks on the task of piecing together a new ruling coalition after Sunday’s knife-edge election, observers need only look to its neighbors, Belgium and the Netherlands, to see how tricky the process can be
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- As Europe's economic powerhouse Germany embarks on the task of piecing together a new ruling coalition after Sunday's knife-edge election, observers need only look to its neighbors, Belgium and the Netherlands, to see how tricky the process can be.
Olaf Scholz, leader of the center-left Social Democrats that narrowly beat outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Union bloc on Sunday sounded upbeat the morning after the vote.
“My idea is that we will be very fast in getting a result for this government, and it should be before Christmas if possible,” Scholz told reporters in Berlin. “Germany always has coalition governments and it was always stable.”
But with both parties finishing with well under 30% of the vote, the keys to power appear to be in the hands of two opposition parties — raising questions over the stability of a future government.
