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Missing Votes for Merkel 'Too Many to Ignore'

Angela Merkel kicked off her second four-year term as Germany's chancellor on Wednesday, but the shine was taken off her success by a group of parliamentarians from her center-right coalition who refused to back her. Merkel, say German commentators, may not have the smooth second term she had hoped for.

Wednesday was a big day for Angela Merkel: It marked the start of her second four-year term as Germany's chancellor. But she got off to a spluttering start when a number of parliamentarians from her center-right coalition rejected her appointment.

The results of the secret ballot showed that seven members of the newly elected lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, who were from the parties in Merkel's coalition didn't vote for her. Two other members failed to even show up. In total, though, she garnered 323 votes, or 11 more than the majority she needed.

The ballot, which should have been a mere technicality, raised questions about the new coalition's unity just hours after she and the ministers of her new cabinet were sworn in. Speaking in an interview shortly after the vote, Merkel shrugged off the results. "I respect those who do not want to vote for me," she told ARD public television. "That is part of democracy."

The election marks the start of business for Merkel two days after her Christian Democratic party (CDU) and its new coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrat Party (FDP), signed a coalition deal that includes €24 billion ($35.5 billion) in tax cuts to give a boost to Europe's largest economy.

In Thursday's papers, German editorialists pondered what the vote means for Merkel's standing. Many interpreted the result as a timely reminder of the bumpy road ahead for the German chancellor, despite the fact that she will now be governing in a coalition with her preferred partner.

The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"Angela Merkel doesn't appear to have developed a new or milder vision of Germany's problems. Instead, she now has a more realistic impression of how much and how fast things can be changed in this country. At the end of the day, the chancellor is the one who needs to lead and arbitrate between the people and the coalition, and what is much too much for one group is much too little for the other. The nine votes that the chancellor was missing during the election serve as a reminder that whoever doesn't understand -- or accomplish -- that will not stay in office for long. "

Conservative Die Welt writes:

"Much of the coalition agreement does not fit the image that Germans have of Angela Merkel. There are the exceptions made for chemists, landlords and tax advisers; the subsidies for farmers; the powerless proclamations for educational success; the idea that the most pressing issue facing Germans is the erosion of tax inequalities. But Merkel spoke of something different during the election campaign: the reforming spirit that will be needed in order to deal with the demographic challenges we face."

"Helmut Kohl's priority was reunification, and Gerhard Schröder's was reforming the labor market. But, for Angela Merkel, the main issue will be modernizing her party. The CDU now has the most ambitious plans when it comes to integration and family policies. The next taboo issue -- the growth of the German underclass -- is already rearing its head. As the German chancellor said regarding the financial crisis, this is no time for gimmicks."

The regional daily Nordwest Zeitung writes:

"The election of Chancellor Angela Merkel was seen as a mere technicality. But after the votes were counted, there were many furrowed brows in the government camp. Nine delegates had denied the former and new chancellor their votes. That was worse than the bleakest forecast, but not enough to create a sensation. Still, no matter how you look at it, it's too many votes to ignore."

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"The challenge Merkel faces is sticking to her presidential governing style while not letting her new partner, the FDP, force her to do anything she doesn't want to. Surrounded by the alert fast-talkers and the political fidgeting of her new coalition partner, she will remain as committedly non-committal as ever. And she will want to show what she has always been trying to show: that no one -- except, of course, Angela Merkel -- can be everything to everybody. As shown by the nine missing votes in the Bunderstag election, even she doesn't manage it 100 percent. Still, she does pull it off surprisingly well".

-- Jess Smee