Merkel, Schroeder must wheel and deal for power
Ireland Online is declaring Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Party the narrow winner in Germany's election, given a popular vote lead of less than one percent.
However, as the Chinese point out, the CDU and Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder's Social Democratic Party (SDP) each won exactly 122 seats in the Bundestag.
ZDF TV is reported to have stated that Merkel's 'dreams are shattered," and the SDP's chairman has called the result a "personal defeat" for Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor who heads Germany's conservative, pro-American party. Schroeder, meanwhile, has openly stated that he will lead Germany in the next few years, while calling Merkel's claim of victory "arrogant."
In point of fact, however, whichever of the two can organize a majority in the Bundestag through negotiations with smaller parties will in fact be Germany's new Chancellor. While the returns are in, the consequences of the election in terms of which party will govern Germany are still anything but clear.
Sidebar: In 2000, Europeans openly laughed at the United States for our unusually close and seemingly inconclusive election.
They themselves, on the other hand, do this sort of thing routinely.
However, as the Chinese point out, the CDU and Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder's Social Democratic Party (SDP) each won exactly 122 seats in the Bundestag.
ZDF TV is reported to have stated that Merkel's 'dreams are shattered," and the SDP's chairman has called the result a "personal defeat" for Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor who heads Germany's conservative, pro-American party. Schroeder, meanwhile, has openly stated that he will lead Germany in the next few years, while calling Merkel's claim of victory "arrogant."
In point of fact, however, whichever of the two can organize a majority in the Bundestag through negotiations with smaller parties will in fact be Germany's new Chancellor. While the returns are in, the consequences of the election in terms of which party will govern Germany are still anything but clear.
Sidebar: In 2000, Europeans openly laughed at the United States for our unusually close and seemingly inconclusive election.
They themselves, on the other hand, do this sort of thing routinely.
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