Word: fdp
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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...
...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...
...garish. The real excitement comes from the unpredictability of the outcome. It's not just that opinion polls show the CDU and FDP tantalizingly close to attaining just under half the votes they'd need to form a government. A few percentage points could change the picture entirely. But Germans don't even know how many politicians will get elected, since the Bundestag is one of the few parliaments in the world where the number of seats can shift with each election. (Read "Germany's Election: Divided They Stand...
...this year's election could be just as exciting, even though the CDU leads the SPD by a much more substantial margin than it did in 2002 - by as many as 11 points, according to the most recent polls. Denied a majority with the FDP, Merkel could opt to retain the Grand Coalition or try to rope in an additional party. (Remember the "Jamaica" scenario?) Building a coalition - an elaborate dance of horse-trading and arm-twisting - could take several weeks. (Read "Small Parties Gain in German State Votes...