The collapse of preliminary talks about the establishment of a coalition government puts “great challenges before the political parties,”, German President said on Monday.
Germany is experiencing the worst political crisis in the past 70 years following the failure of the preliminary talks on the formation of the government, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Monday.
“Preliminary talks on the establishment of the government have not yet yielded results. This situation puts the political parties in front of even bigger challenges,” Steinmeier said after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Steinmeier called on all political parties to forsake their own ambitions and to prioritize the interests of the nation.
“This is the moment in which all participants must pause and rethink their position. All political parties elected to the Bundestag must act for the common good. I expect from the negotiators a demonstration of readiness to form a government in the foreseeable future,” the president stressed.
On Monday morning, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has not managed to conclude an agreement on forming a new coalition government from marathon talks, that promotes the chance of new elections.
Earlier on Monday the German Free Democratic Party (FDP) announced its withdrawal from the coalition talks with the union of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) and the Greens (prospective ‘Jamaica coalition’). However, disagreements over such issues as migration and climate change have prevented parties from reaching a deal. AfD leader Alexander Gauland has already called for Chancellor Angela Merkel to resign.
The CDU/CSU bloc could agree to form a minority government with the Greens. If no government is formed, a new parliamentary election will have to be scheduled.