GERMANY IS undergoing a major shift as it comes to terms with a fifth force in its mainstream politics, the arrival of the Left party in national and state legislatures.
The party, formed from an alliance of former East German communists and dissident Social Democrats, now has 53 seats in the Bundestag and representation in 10 out of 16 länder. Its breakthrough has made stable coalitions more difficult for the existing four parties - the Christian Democrats (CD), Social Democrats (SPD), Free Democrats and Greens. Influential voices wonder if this could open the way for a far-right group to make a similar impact, endangering Germany's political stability.
The issue has been highlighted by the collapse of coalition talks in Hesse last week. In elections on January 24th the CDs and SPD each received 42 seats, so either of them could govern separately only by combining with other parties. After trying for two months they failed to form a grand coalition mirroring the national one. In frustration, SPD national leader Kurt Beck gave local SPD leader Andrea Ypsilanti permission to explore forming a coalition with the Greens which would have passive support from the Left party, a decision he justified again conditionally on Monday.
The move caused a sensation because it broke an undertaking he had already given not to deal with the Left, which many SPD leaders distrust. Mrs Ypsilanti announced that she could not reach an agreement after a prominent party colleague rebelled, saying coalition promises made before elections must be kept.
The affair has weakened Mr Beck ahead of next year's federal elections, polls showing a collapse in his credibility. He may not survive as the party's chancellor candidate against the CDs' Angela Merkel. Other potential leaders, including foreign and finance ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Peer Steinbrück, are opposed in principle to co-operating with the Left, and they have wide support. Dealing with the Left has split the SPD. Its base is attracted to a left opening, despite negative aspects of the new party, including a nostalgia for East German Stalinism and untried or untested policies. Many Germans feel that weaker groups have lost out in recent reforms and must be better represented, while a growing strike movement could galvanise social protest.
In Hamburg another political novelty is being negotiated - a potential coalition between the CDs and the Greens. Were that to succeed, Germany's political arithmetic would be further transformed.