Germany’s centre left is facing growing pressure to consider talks about a centrist coalition with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats as Berlin wakes up to the cost of fresh elections in 2018. Martin Schulz, the leader of the Social Democratic party (SPD), ruled out another “grand coalition” after his party’s worst postwar performance in federal elections in September. He reiterated his stance after the collapse on Sunday of talks about a three-way coalition between the CDU, the Free Democratic party (FDP) and the Greens. There is speculation that the SPD leader could face calls to step aside at a party conference in two weeks’ time if he refuses to change his stance. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung suggested that the only way out for Schulz, a former president of the European parliament, would be to drop his election-night promise and kickstart coalition talks with Merkel.

Source: The Guardian November 22, 2017 17:46 UTC