Germany’s acting chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to get back to work on a bulging “order book” of political promises to be delivered on. A day after two-thirds of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) membership voted to back another grand coalition, the German leader said she understood widespread frustration at the lengthy delay in forming a government. The liberal Free Democrats (FDP), who chose opposition rather than a coalition with the CDU last November, suggested Sunday’s SPD result suggested the party was “more afraid of new elections than further marginalisation in another grand coalition”. Things are likely to slow down after that ahead of state elections in Bavaria and Hesse, governed by Merkel allies. “It will also require more German investment in EU matters and bilateral relationships,” she said on Monday, “as the coalition agreement acknowledges.”

Source: The Irish Times March 05, 2018 18:33 UTC