Daily News Channel
Re-elected German Chancellor Angela Merkel is eyeing a new coalition to replace the “grand coalition” her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party shared with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the previous parliament. If, as expected, Merkel forms a new coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FPD) it will have wide-reaching implications for Germans.
Germans went to the polls Sunday in the face of threatening videos from al Qaeda and the Taliban warning them not to vote for leaders who want to keep the country’s troops in Afghanistan. Security was tightened at airports and train stations, and authorities on Saturday banned all flights over the Oktoberfest beer festival until it ends on October 4.
There’s a saying that the German peace movement has been using since the days of the Cold War that translates into something like this: “Imagine there’s a war and no one shows up.” Adapt that to German politics and you have a pretty good summary of Sunday’s pre-election TV debate between Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Union and her rival Frank Walter Steinmeier, of the Social Democratic Party, who is also this country’s Foreign Minister: “Imagine there’s an election and no one fights to win.” That is what viewers saw last night. With just two weeks to go until Germany goes to the polls, both candidates opened up by praising each other and saying how well they have been working together