Germany PM calls for talks amid crisishome/News/World/Germany PM calls for talks amid crisisBERLIN: Parties in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government are set to hold separate crisis talks on Monday, after her fragile coalition suffered a fresh body blow as the leader of junior partner Social Democratic Party (SPD) quit. In a shock announcement on Sunday, SPD leader Andrea Nahles said she was stepping down from her party’s top jobs, following late May’s European elections drubbing. The 48-year-old’s decision left the SPD in disarray, and raised questions over the survival of Merkel’s coalition. Whether the unhappy partnership between Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU)-Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) alliance and the center-left SPD can go on until the end of its term in 2021 could now hinge on Nahles’ successor. Anxious to calm the jitters over her government, Merkel said on Sunday that it would push on and fulfill its mandate.

Source: Manila Times June 03, 2019 16:18 UTC