Word: fdp
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...party's win in parliamentary elections in Germany on Sept. 27, she had especially good reason to caution against overexuberance. Her Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) had secured another four-year term as the senior partner in a ruling coalition. And thanks to big gains by the center-right Free Democrats (FDP), who espouse economic liberalism and have a tradition of close ties to Washington, Merkel and her colleagues should be able to shed their existing coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), for what is a more natural political ally. Yet the Christian Democrats did so with a lower percentage of votes...
...allies are likely to inspire more ambitious change. Top of the pile of unfinished business: nurturing and revitalizing a torpid economy, the world's fourth largest. Under the influence of her SPD partners, Merkel intervened to preserve jobs in big industries. Guido Westerwelle, the FDP's leader, and future deputy to Merkel in the new coalition, believes too little has been done to look after the interests of Germany's Mittelstand, its small- and medium-size businesses. He told TIME in a recent interview that some German stimulus measures had been ill-conceived. "You can sign 100 stimulus programs...
...dissidents. And Merkel's win, though slim, secures her against critics in her party, who might have sought to topple her. Christian Bachmann, 37, a hospital doctor and Christian Democrat supporter, proclaims himself "happy with the result." He adds, "To be quite honest, I don't mind the FDP ending up so strong. This may give the CDU/CSU room for a little bit more creativity." His fellow Christian Democrat Klaus Pump, 80, is also content. "The most important thing is that we have a change of government," he says. "The Reds - the SPD - have gone down quite spectacularly. However...
...government. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the current Foreign Minister and the SPD's candidate for Chancellor, at one point appeared to suggest a timetable for German troop withdrawal, then beat a swift retreat from anything so radical. Steinmeier, Merkel and Guido Westerwelle, the leader of the Free Democrats (FDP) and a possible replacement for Steinmeier as Foreign Minister after the elections, have all indicated a desire to see an orderly end to the German deployment. Any new government faces the same problem of balancing the deepening unpopularity of Germany's Afghan mission back home with the increasing demands from other NATO...
...coming elections will determine how Germany decides to nurture its fragile recovery and address other central questions of economic policy. If Merkel manages to form her preferred coalition with the FDP, the new government would be less likely than the current grand coalition to intervene to bolster big industry, choosing to stimulate the economy instead with tax cuts and investment incentives. As Germany is the world's fourth largest economy and second biggest exporter, its economic management is of global concern. And with little change expected to Germany's foreign policy, the rest of the world will likely pay closer...