Green strategy

Leading Green politicians say that Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to phase out nuclear power by 2022 has increased the likelihood of forming a coalition with Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), either at local or at national level.

But Green leader Claudia Roth, seen as being on the left of the party, played down the comments from her pragmatist co-leader Cem Özdemir and from the new premier of the state of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann.

Roth said the nuclear debate wasn't about strategic options like coalition deals: "The task of setting the right course for a new energy policy is too important for mere coalition pettiness."

Green praise for Merkel

Kretschmann told the Tagesspiegel newspaper at the weekend that Merkel's decision to scrap nuclear power allows the Greens to smooth over their differences with the CDU. He called the planned phaseout an "epic victory." That decision meant that a "significant hurdle" for his party and the CDU had fallen away.

Kretschmann is the first Green state premier in Germany. He was elected in May only a few weeks after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, which sent shock waves through Germany and stirred up anti-nuclear sentiment. The Greens had long campaigned against nuclear power, and have been rating highly in polls in recent weeks.

Özdemir was more circumspect, telling the Hamburger Abendblatt at the weekend that the party has more in common with the center-left opposition Social Democrats, but that "we have already said that we would also talk with the CDU, depending on the situation at hand." He said there was still a lot dividing the parties.

Little enthusiasm from CDU/CSU

But many core Green party members are skeptical about the idea of joining forces with the Christian Democrats. And Christian Democrats aren't showing much enthusiasm for the idea either. CDU General Secretary Hermann Gröhe told the Frankfurter Rundschau on Tuesday that "we need these little games with coalition politics like we need a hole in the head."

According to Volker Kauder, a senior figure in the Christian Democrats, there are more differences than similarities between the greens and the current coalition - made up of the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), the CDU and their Bavarian sister party (CSU).

The Greens remain "opponents of innovation and progress," Kauder told the Passauer Neue Presse this weekend. "They're scared of anything new. That doesn't sit well with us."

Kauder added that the CDU and CSU are planning to maintain their coalition partnership with the FDP, with Merkel as chancellor, after the next general elections in 2013.

But some commentators say that if Merkel wants to stay in power, she would be advised not to rely too much on the FDP. An editorial in the Rheinische Post newspaper pointed out that support for the FDP is falling dramatically, just as the Greens are dramatically on the rise. Furthermore the CDU has not had an easy time with the FDP in the governing coalition, with frequent clashes over a number of issues.

For their part, the FDP have been quick to refute the idea of the Greens entering government with the CDU/CSU. Party leader Philipp Rösler told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that there were many more areas where the FDP and CDU/CSU agreed than where they disagreed.

"If we continue to work well together and to turn our convictions into policy, if we seek to balance our interests and if we have joint successes, then we'll have another coalition [between FDP, CDU and CSU] in 2013," Rösler said.

Author: Joanna Impey (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Michael Lawton