Germany Is Run by a Coalition of the Desperate
Another crisis in the Social Democratic Party is evidence of a systemic breakdown, but not necessarily of the government’s collapse.
Not going anywhere yet.
Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergSunday marked another important stage in the implosion of Germany’s two-party system. But the abrupt resignation of Andrea Nahles as leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) probably won’t spell an immediate end to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition, in which the SPD is the junior partner.
On Sunday, Nahles gave up her posts as party and parliamentary group leader and said she’d also resign her parliament seat. She explained this abrupt withdrawal from politics by saying she lacked sufficient support after a dismal performance in last month’s European Parliament election. It was the first post-World War II nationwide ballot in which the SPD came third, garnering just 15.8% of the vote, and came after the party’s first-ever loss of a state election in Bremen. But it’s unclear who among available candidates might have the support Nahles lacked.