The World from Berlin

'When Will the Government Start to Govern?'

It was all smiles at Meseberg as the German goverment parties tried to put the bickering behind them.

Finding harmony in the new German coalition seems to be about as easy as herding cats. Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have been at odds with their new coalition partners, the FDP, on almost every issue. German papers instruct the government to stop bickering in public and get on with running the country.

It has been far from a flying start. After September's election, it looked like German Chancellor Angela Merkel would be able to finally shake off four years of having to reach unsatisfactory compromises and get down to business. Her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) could ditch those annoying center-left Social Democrats, with whom they had been governing in a "grand coalition," and get to work with their coalition partners of choice: the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP).

Be careful what you wish for. It took over a month for the two parties to finally hammer out a coalition deal. Three weeks ago, the government took office -- but it's been downhill ever since. From taxation to health reform, from the troubled carmaker Opel to the question of who will be on the board of a new center documenting Germany's post-World War II expellees from Eastern Europe, there have been constant and very public differences of opinion between the coalition partners.

Merkel has now taken the bull by the horns. She called a two-day pow wow for the coalition partners, starting on Tuesday, to discuss a long list of topics. The most fraught is the clash between the FDP and its conservative counterparts on the expellee documentation center. FDP leader and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has come out strongly against appointing the controversial leader of the Federation of Expellees (BdV), Erika Steinbach, to the board of the center, saying it would jeopardize relations with neighboring Poland. Westerwelle opposes Steinbach because, among other reasons, she voted against recognition of the German-Polish border as a member of the Bundestag in 1991. He has said he would veto her appointment if the federation were to nominate her.

On the other hand, the Christian Social Union (CSU), the CDU's Bavarian sister party, are adament that she should be appointed. Although Steinbach announced this week that she will waive a place on the board, this may only be a temporary respite from the feud within the government.

Some German papers on Wednesday focus on the issue of Steinbach and the spat over the documentation center while others wonder if the retreat will finally persuade the parties to realize that they are all in this government together.

The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes:

"The nomination of Steinbach has finally presented the government with a choice: Either they decide in favour of (Steinbach) or for an unclouded relationship with Poland."

"It is thanks to Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle that these alternatives have been clearly named. And it is to be welcomed that he hasn't beat about the bush -- unlike Chancellor Angela Merkel. …. Westerwelle cannot give up his veto against Steinbach ... without losing face and political weight in the cabinet."

"Chancellor Merkel has been asked by the Federation of Expellees, her own party members and, in particular, the CSU, to push through Steinbach despite Westerwelle and the Polish concerns. This has been justified on the grounds of freedom and the democratic right of members of a federation to decide for themselves who represents them."

"Of course the BdV is free to nominate its president (for the position). However, the cabinet must be just as free to find her application suitable or not suitable."

"What freedom and what democratic rights are we talking about here? Are we talking about the freedom to hurt our Polish neighbors? That is exactly what Steinbach did when she voted against recognizing Germany's eastern border with Poland. .. She was certainly free to vote that way. And she was also free to voice doubts about whether Poland was ready to join the EU. And she is also free to repeatedly tell a Poland that was invaded and destroyed by German fascism that Germans also suffered."

"Steinbach can freely present her views as president of the BdV and as a member of the Bundestag. However, no one should be surprised if the Poles -- and others -- find her to be completely unacceptable and unbearable."

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"Angela Merkel likes to present herself as a chancellor who is concerned with how things turn out. Only the result matters. It's a good method for deflecting criticism: Criticism that she doesn't make a comment when everyone is expecting a comment. Criticism that she puts off decisions when everyone is expecting a decision. … Those who wait until things are resolved have the advantage of being able to define themselves when the desired result is achieved."

"That seems to be the case when it comes to Erika Steinbach. Merkel says nothing, Merkel decides nothing. After weeks of public debate and private discussions, the president of the Federation of Expellees waived a seat on the board of the Berlin documentation center foundation. That was a good result for Merkel, because she didn't have to chose between snubbing the Poles or the expellees. The chancellor showed her gratitude to Steinbach for this concession, by gracing several events with her presence and always having friendly words for Steinbach and stern words for the SPD, who were against Steinbach having a seat on the board."

"Now it is starting all over again. What Merkel thought was the end of the discussion was just the beginning. The Federation of Expellees are now insisting that Steinbach have a seat on the board, even if not formally. And the role of the SPD has now been taken over by the FDP in the person of Guido Westerwelle. The chancellor has ended up in this deeply unpleasant position because she couldn't be pinned down, said nothing and made no decisions. She won't get out of this so easily a second time."

The conservative Die Welt writes:

"Certainly the government has a right to veto a nomination. However, it is usually clever not to use this right. And it is certainly not normal to publicly threaten to use the veto as Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has done. In doing so he has not shown much proof of any diplomatic skills, skills which are essential in his position. It was not very clever to voice his opposition to the nomination … in Warsaw, where friends of Steinbach are even thinner on the ground than here."

"The expulsion of the Germans is now making its way into our national psyche. That would never happened without Steinbach's obstinacy. To bar her from taking a seat on the board is petty and unjust. It is also a sign of a culture of the exclusion and hate that some like to attribute to the president of the Federation of Expellees."

The mass-circulation Bild focuses on the coalition in-fighting:

"There are almost daily question marks concerning the central decisions in the coalition agreement. During their first few weeks, the CDU and FDP have often been pulling in different directions on issues such as taxation and health. We were used to that with the grand coalition. However, the new government was not elected for this, but to govern -- united and decisively."

"If the coalition does not get into the groove for the next four years at their Meseberg meeting, then the damage will be great. In politics, beginnings are highly important. It is where credibility is won or lost. When will the government start to govern?"

The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"The government needs an early retreat so that the experienced ministers from the Christian Democrats can bring their inexperienced colleagues from the FDP back down to earth. Government responsibility is not simply the continuation of being in the opposition but with a bigger car. Except for Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, who has previously served in government, all of the FDP members of government have had a shaky start."

"The foreign minister will be remembered for choosing as his first foreign visit a neighboring country (Poland) whose interests he sought to push through on his return against the interests of a broad swath of the population at home. This has not just been observed with interest by the foreign governments that Westerwelle will have to deal with in the future, but also could cause the first serious conflict with his conservative coalition partners, in particular the CSU."

"The government, and with it Germany, will only be able to confront the rest of the world if the coalition partners come to an agreement before they even begin to go public. Merkel and the Chancellery will have to work as hard on coordination with these 'preferred' coalition partners as they did in the previous alliance with an antagonistic party."

-- Siobhán Dowling