Coalition poker

Germany seems close to a power handover; Schröder goes, Merkel comes. Relatively quickly, the most probable, and after the elections almost inevitable, coalition announced their engagement today.
That the engagement will lead to nothing more than an arranged marriage is very clear, when you look at the reactions from both parties. Merkel was asked how she felt, because after all, she seems to get what she wanted. She laughed a bit, at first, and continued formally by saying that she felt good, but that a lot of work was lying ahead of her. No enthousiasm yet.
The SPD reacted similarly: Gerhard Schröder was not available for comment, and Müntefering said that this was only the start of the negotiations ... nothing has been decided before it has been decided.
I don't think there will be a big celebration after the negotiations.

It is usually not nice to see a relationship that is not based on love. But in this case, I think it is the best constellation for pushing necessary reforms forward. The SPD will do everything to continue following the road that was taken with "Agenda 2010", the CDU will not be able to take a completely different route, with the SPD on board. And the traditional ties between the SPD and the unions might be loosened a bit, with Merkel at the steering wheel.
If instead of love, a firm basis of trust can be built up, this coalition might become more than, what most Germans believe, a one-night-stand.

I was a bit surprised about the fact that this black/red coalition is something that few people really wanted: the differences between both parties are not that big anymore. So, in theory, they should be able to agree on a sensible continuation of the reform process. On the practical side, though, I also believe that it's not easy for two rivals to work together and to build a necessary basis of trust to make this process work.

The first woman as Chancellor will not have an easy tasks, that's for sure. Wouldn't it be a great first step, if Schröder would get a position in Merkel's "competence team"?