SPIEGEL ONLINE
- May 07, 2012
The FDP ended its series of humiliating election defeats by scoring a respectable 8.2 percent in the Schleswig-Holstein state election on Sunday. The result should help stabilize Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right coalition at a time when she has her hands full tackling a Europe-wide rebellion against her austerity policies. more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- May 06, 2012
German Chancellor Angela Merkel can't be pleased about François Hollande's election victory, but it will at least be bearable for her. The newfound self-confidence of her junior coalition partner, the FDP, which scored a surprise success in the state election of Schleswig-Holstein on Sunday, poses a greater threat to the chancellor. A Commentary By Roland Nelles more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- April 04, 2012
Chancellor Angela Merkel has been making policy concessions to her ailing coalition partner, the pro-business FDP, in a bid to 'keep it above water,' as one advisor puts it. But the party is bent on confrontation with the conservatives, which it sees as the only way to sharpen its profile and win back voters. By Merlind Theile more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- March 28, 2012
Germany's political establishment doesn't know how to react to the Pirate Party, which now has seats in two state parliaments and owns the debate on Internet issues. But although the party's radical experiments in transparency and participation may have caught its rivals off guard, its no-holds-barred debating culture can also backfire. By SPIEGEL Staff
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SPIEGEL ONLINE
- March 26, 2012
The success of the Pirate Party in Sunday's election in Saarland shows it will be a force to be reckoned with in coming elections, say German commentators. Angela Merkel will be able to draw some relief from the victory of her CDU in the state -- but her coalition partner, the FDP, sank further towards oblivion. more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- March 15, 2012
The government of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, collapsed on Wednesday after the Free Democrats unexpectedly blocked a budget measure. In Thursday's newspapers, German commentators speculate on how this apparent setback could actually help the Social Democrats and Greens at both the state and national level. more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- March 14, 2012
The government of North Rhine-Westphalia has lost a key budget vote, a development that is expected to trigger an early election in Germany's most populous state. The vote could rock Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right coalition by further weakening her junior coalition partner, the Free Democrats. more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- March 07, 2012
Following controversial strikes at Frankfurt Airport, a fundamental dispute over the much-cherished principle of collective bargaining in Germany has come to a head. Small unions are gaining a disproportionate amount of influence, but the coalition government in Berlin is at odds over how to limit their power. more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- February 28, 2012
Chancellor Angela Merkel wanted to use the nomination of a new presidential candidate to prepare the ground for a new coalition after the next election in 2013. But her junior coalition partner, the FDP, scuppered her plan. Now, the unthinkable has become possible: A future coalition without Merkel's party. By Konstantin von Hammerstein, Christoph Hickmann, Peter Müller and Ralf Neukirch more...
SPIEGEL ONLINE
- January 20, 2012
Two weeks after the collapse of its governing coalition, the tiny state of Saarland announced on Thursday that it would soon hold new elections. Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition partner, the Free Democrats, could emerge as the biggest losers. more...
