Merkel gives nod to Green partnership.
By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin - Published in The Financial Times, February 25 2008 16:32.

Angela Merkel, Germany’s Christian Democratic chancellor, on Monday gave her approval to the creation of the first coalition of the CDU and Greens in a move that could transform the country’s party-political landscape.

Meanwhile, in an equally ground-breaking decision, the Social Democratic party, junior partner in Ms Merkel’s “grand coalition”, said it would no longer oppose all forms of co-operation with the Left party in western German states.

EDITOR’S CHOICE: Hamburg CDU considers rule with Greens - Feb-25

The party’s top executive body said that from now on it would let regional SPD federations decide whether to work with the radical grouping.

Analysts said the U-turn could exacerbate tensions within the SPD between reformists, who oppose any rapprochement with the neo-communist party, and leftwingers, who favour limited co-operation.

After three years of ruling together in a fractious “grand coalition”, the CDU and SPD, the country’s two largest parties and historical rivals, are coming under pressure to explore new coalition scenarios that could include Germany’s first three-way ruling alliance. It was Ms Merkel’s failure to strike a three-way deal with the Greens and FDP that forced her to form the coalition with the SPD after the indecisive election of 2005.

Ms Merkel’s comments came after Ole von Beust, the CDU mayor of Hamburg, won the most votes at Sunday’s election in the northern city-state, though not enough to rule with the FDP. The CDU’s executive board said Ms Merkel, who is also the party’s chairwoman, had decided to give Mr von Beust full latitude to negotiate a coalition agreement with the Greens. Mr von Beust said he would start preliminary talks as early as this week.

“The mayor of Hamburg will be exploring uncharted territories,” Ms Merkel said.

An alternative would be for the mayor to form a coalition with the SPD. Yet the CDU and Green leadership in Berlin are expected to push for the creation of the first “black-green” coalition at the regional level. The Greens and the CDU have only worked together at the municipal level so far in cities such as Frankfurt, Kiel and Cologne.

Hamburg’s CDU and Greens are far apart both on general issues and on local themes, such as building a new power station for the city and education policy.