GERMANY: Germany's grand coalition became a political reality last night after members of the Social Democrats (SPD) and Christian Democrats (CDU) voted overwhelmingly in favour of sharing power.
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder bowed out with tears in his eyes yesterday, urging members of the SPD to see the grand coalition as "a real chance to change our country and not as something forced on us".
"The grand coalition can halt the delaying and watering-down of decisions and the decision-making blockade which, as a result, has crippled the country," he told SPD delegates in Karlsruhe.
The new coalition agreement did not open the door to "market liberalism", he said, but had a "Social Democratic signature" and represented a "responsible organisation of the economy and society".
"Whoever is not prepared in this coalition to move beyond their own programme will not be rewarded by voters at the next election, and that's putting it mildly," he warned.
Mr Schröder's speech was an emotional farewell from the political spotlight after seven years in power, during which he said Germany had become a "more modern, open and democratic place" with "greater respect" in the world.
His time in office was characterised by running battles with his own party. He pulled the plug on his government a year early in May, complaining of a lack of support from the party's left wing. The party finished September's election one percentage point behind the CDU.
"You didn't always have it easy with us and neither did we with you," said outgoing party leader Franz Müntefering. "But, in the election, it was clear: the SPD and Gerhard Schröder are one."
Mr Müntefering, who himself stands down today, urged delegates to back the coalition, saying it was "better to have influence in power than none in opposition".
In the end, 498 SPD delegates voted for the coalition, the second such arrangement in Germany's postwar history. There were just 15 votes against and five abstentions. Earlier, the delegates gave Mr Schröder a 10-minute standing ovation.
In Berlin yesterday, 112 CDU delegates attending a minor party conference backed the deal, with just three no votes and one abstention. Chancellor-elect Angela Merkel called the CDU and SPD results a "huge vote of confidence in the new government" but said it was now under "huge pressure to act" to improve the confidence of Germans in their economy and in politics.
"Germany stands at a crossroads about whether we will preserve what makes this country strong: a social market economy in times of globalisation," said Dr Merkel, telling critics who had already "knocked everything" about the grand coalition to "show some respect for the people who spend hours and hours trying to improve Germany a bit".
The coalition had earned a "chance to do something before a verdict was delivered", she said, taking a swipe at economists, business leaders and union bosses.
Despite concessions to the SPD, the CDU had pushed through important policies in the coalition pact, such as looser labour laws and a new office in the chancellery which would examine and minimise the cost of new bureaucracy for business.
Finally, Dr Merkel announced that the CDU would discuss and prepare a new party programme next month. "We have to discuss in a new way what our Christian Democratic values mean in this changing world," she said. "This discussion will give us the power to be pragmatic in the grand coalition, to strengthen our identity and redefine ourselves."
