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Germany's growing pains

For a Europe already struggling to unite and stay relevant in the modern world, Germany's deadlocked election did not help. While Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic coalition narrowly beat Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democratic ticket, neither side won a governing majority, unleashing what could be weeks or months of backroom gamesmanship. The uncertainty drives Europe further into a rut and leaves France and Germany struggling to regain their dominant roles in shaping the continent.

To some extent the results are growing pains. Merkel led the polls by 20 points in the runup to the Sept. 18 parliamentary election, but her appeal to the old, Soviet-controlled east and fuzzy economic reform program that Schroeder painted as antisocial helped scare enough voters back to the status quo. The very issues that paralyzed Germans are the ones unsettling the whole of Europe - how far east to expand, relations with Russia, immigration and what role Europe should play as a bulwark to American power and Asian wealth.

That is why the immediate drama of who should lead Germany matters less than confronting the larger issues, from how and where to trim the welfare state to defining Germany's role in a united Europe. Schroeder and Merkel held talks Thursday but failed to agree on who should lead, though the two sides are toying with forming a "grand" coalition to break the impasse and avoid new elections. Whatever government emerges, it's clear both leaders are transitory figures on the political scene. The longer the deadlock, the more German voters will see the need for alternatives.

[Last modified September 26, 2005, 01:18:19]