German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and her new coalition partners, the Social Democrats,
have formally signed a coalition agreement some ten weeks after elections. The
new ministers are set to be sworn in Tuesday.
Merkel was joined by her new Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel from the Social Democrats and the head of the sister party to her Christian Democrats, Horst Seehofer of the CSU, at the signing of the coalition deal on Monday in Berlin.
Merkel was joined by her new Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel from the Social Democrats and the head of the sister party to her Christian Democrats, Horst Seehofer of the CSU, at the signing of the coalition deal on Monday in Berlin.
Although
the parties had previously agreed in principle to working together as a
coalition, it still needed the formal backing from all three parties. This was
secured when the SPD approved the coalition over the weekend after asking its
470,000-member base to vote on the deal.
On Monday,
Merkel took the stage first to say a few words about the agreement and invoked
Germany's first chancellor, CDU politician Konrad Adenauer.
"If
two people always have the same opinion, then neither one is good for
much," she said, referring to the long negotiations with the SPD.
Gabriel
took the stage next, and cracked a joke right off the bat that was indicative
of the friendly and familiar mood at the signing ceremony – a contrast to some
of the tough talk that came during the weeks-long coalition talks.
"Chancellor
Merkel, you just referred to Adenauer – we don’t have two people with the same
opinion here," he said, which got a chuckle from the crowd.
He ended
his brief speech on a comical note as well, quoting former SPD chancellor Willy
Brandt: "Politics is all about compromise. But compromises with the Social
Democrats are the best ones."
SPD gains
key posts
Gabriel had
every reason to be in a good mood at the signing ceremony: despite coming in a
distant second to Merkel's CDU in the polls, his party was awarded six of the
fifteen total ministry posts (the CDU also has six, while the CSU has three).
He was able to gain broad support from the party base to ensure the coalition
deal passed the internal party vote. One major concession the SPD won from the
CDU was a nation-wide minimum wage, starting in 2015.
Gabriel
himself becomes Merkel's vice chancellor and has also been given the task of
running a new 'super' ministry that combines the economy and energy portfolios
and will help oversee Germany's transition to renewable energy sources.
Frank-Walter
Steinmeier - previously the leader of the opposition in parliament - is set to
become the new foreign minister, a post he held from 2005 until 2009 during the
last Merkel-led grand coalition. His previous role as head of the party's
parliamentary group will go to his chief whip, Thomas Oppermann.
Strong
appointments from Merkel
Some of
Merkel's closest party allies have come out of the negotiations with powerful
positions. Peter Altmaier, who previously headed the environment ministry, will
serve as Merkel's chief of staff. Thomas de Maiziere moves from his role as
defense minister to the interior ministry, a post he held previously under
Merkel.
De
Maiziere's replacement is one of the more interesting aspects of the new
cabinet: Ursula von der Leyen is to become Germany's first female defense
minister. Political commentators say that this will give her the chance to
position herself as a candidate to succeed Merkel. Since the official
nomination on Sunday, von der Leyen has taken to German public television to
say how surprised she was at the nomination and touting her ability to quickly
wrap her head around a new topic areas - a likely reference to her lack of
expereince in defense matters.
The CSU
came away from the negotiations with three lower-level ministry nominations.
Hans-Peter Friedrich will head the ministry of agriculture, relinquishing his
current post as minister of the interior. Seehofer named his party's secretary
general, Alexander Dobrindt, as transportation and digital infrastructure
minister. Bavarian politician Gerd Müller is to become the minister of development.
The return
of the grand coalition
With the
coalition deal signed, all that is left to do to complete Germany's transfer of
power is to swear in the new ministers and hold a formal vote in parliament to
approve Merkel as chancellor. These tasks are scheduled for Tuesday.
The
coalition between the CDU, its Bavarian sister-party the CSU, and the SPD marks
the third time since World War II that a grand coalition of the country's two
biggest parties has governed. The most recent grand coalition was from
2005-2009. In the 2009 elections, Merkel and the CDU opted to form a government
with the Free Democrats, who did not garner enough votes to gain representation
in parliament during the elections in September.
The current
grand coalition represents a majority of about 80 percent in the Bundestag.
mz/ph (dpa, AFP, AP)
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