When Germany's Green leader and future Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, arrived in Washington early yesterday, television viewers at home were surprised to discover he was wearing a tie. Fischer has come a long way since he took his oath of office as a minister in the state of Hessen wearing a pair of grubby running shoes. But until now, he has drawn the line at donning the full uniform of the governing class, preferring to wear a T-shirt under his increasingly elegant suits.
The Green leader's sartorial compromise was one of many concessions he will be obliged to make between now and October 27th, when the Bundestag is expected to elect Gerhard Schroder as Germany's new chancellor.
The first week of coalition talks between the Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens have gone smoothly and the negotiating atmosphere is said to be good-humoured and business-like. The two sides have agreed on a number of measures to boost job creation, including a cut in social insurance contributions and the broad lines of an "ecological tax reform" are now clear.
The two parties announced last week that the outgoing Finance Minister, Theo Waigel, had left Germany's public finances in an even worse state than they had feared. This is a standard ploy used by incoming governments to dampen popular expectations but it may help to keep rebellious spirits in line in both parties.
But the most difficult decisions have yet to be taken, including the allocation of ministries - an issue that is creating discord within the parties as well as between them.
The Greens want four ministries - the Foreign Ministry for Fischer, the Environment Ministry for the left-winger, Juergen Trittin, and two ministries, probably Justice and Health, to be occupied by leading Green women. The Social Democrats insist that two Green ministers are sufficient, in view of the relative strength of the two parties.
The problem for the Green leadership is that the party's commitment to equal opportunities for both sexes demands that women occupy an equal share of senior posts.
The allocation of ministries will not be discussed until the end of the negotiations next week but Fischer has already made clear that he will not allow the role of Foreign Minister to be diminished.
The SPD chairman, Oskar Lafontaine, who is expected to become Finance Minister, wants to take responsibility for European affairs away from the foreign ministry. He argues that Germany should speak with one voice in Brussels - and he is convinced that this voice should be his own.
If tensions between the two potential coalition partners have remained beneath the surface so far, the power struggle within the Social Democrats broke out into the open this week.
The relationship between Schroder and Lafontaine has never been an easy one and many observers predicted that their truce would break down as soon as the election campaign was over. Lafontaine stepped aside to allow Schroder to become the SPD candidate against Helmut Kohl and he maintained party unity throughout the campaign.
But Lafontaine has made no secret of his ambition to shape the new government's policy and to prevent Schroder from drifting too far to the right. For his part, Schroder is determined to concentrate as much power as possible at the centre of the government and he is installing centrist allies in the cabinet to defend his business-friendly position.
So far, Schroder and Lafontaine have maintained their friendly relationship, even if a strong streak of mutual mistrust runs through it. This is partly because they are united in an unexpected battle with their own parliamentary partner.
The SPD parliamentary leader, Rudolf Scharping, has little reason to feel loyalty or affection for either Lafontaine or Schroder. The two rivals came together last year to oust Scharping as SPD chairman in a ruthless party conference coup last year.
Now they want to remove him as parliamentary leader and to replace him with the party's successful campaign manager, Franz Muntefering. Schroder offered Scharping the post of Defence Minister as a consolation prize but this appears to be one humiliation too far for the bruised parliamentary leader and he is refusing to go.
Meanwhile, Wolfgang Thierse, a leading Social Democrat from the east of the country who was promised the job of Bundestag president, or speaker, before the election, is also proving troublesome. Schroder does not want to give him the job because Thierse, who has a long, flowing beard worthy of an Old Testament prophet, once attempted to organise a campaign against him.
Lafontaine has promised the veteran Social Democrat, Johannes Rau, that he will succeed Federal President Roman Herzog next year. He wants a woman to occupy at least one senior position and the only remaining post is that of Bundestag president. Like Scharping, Thierse is refusing to go quietly.
Schroder and Fischer had a delicate diplomatic task in Washington as they sought to reassure President Clinton that Germany is still a reliable partner in the western alliance. But the intricacies of international diplomacy are child's play compared to the Machiavellian manoeuvres of their party colleagues at home.
