What the new coalition in Germany means for the country’s future

Merkelism – if defined as the art of compromise and prevarication – may indeed have had its day, writes Mary Dejevsky

Germany’s new traffic light coalition, with the chancellor-in-waiting, Olaf Scholz (centre) (AFP/Getty)

True to its reputation abroad, if possibly no longer in the eyes of its citizens, Germany is well on the way to smoothly acquiring a new government. With scarcely a wave being made, the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Free Democrats have concluded an agreement that paves the way for Germany’s first three-way coalition government for nearly 70 years. Subject to the – likely – approval of the parties’ members, the post-Angela Merkel era begins early next month.

From the apparent good nature of the negotiations – compared with the public disagreements that preceded the formation of Merkel’s last coalition – to the apparent efficiency of the transition, the forecasts have been predominantly for continuity. After all, the chancellor designate, Olaf Scholz, was Merkel’s deputy in the outgoing government and, as finance minister, held the purse strings. At 63, he is not so very much younger than Merkel (67), and the presence in the coalition of both the (economically left-leaning) Greens and the (free-market) FDP should ensure a balance that will not scare any horses.

However, I do wonder if the degree of continuity from Merkel might have been exaggerated: whether out of wishful thinking on the part of Merkel’s many fans abroad or because the chancellor-in-waiting – whose party’s victory was wafer-thin – knows better than to create uncertainty by flaunting his ambitions before he is actually sitting in the chancellor’s chair.