Word: fdp
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...called Grand Coalition of the two biggest parties in parliament: the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and leader of the CDU, hopes to drop her current partners and govern instead with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP). But a tight electoral race and the complexity of the German voting system mean that outcome is far from certain...
...Germans refer to the possible coalition combinations not by the parties' names but by their colors. Thus Merkel, whose party color is black, is said to be aiming to replace the current black and red (for the SPD) government with an alliance of black and gold (the FDP's color). But if her party fares badly on Sunday, Sept. 27, a multihued coalition may emerge: a "traffic-light" alliance of SPD, FDP and the Greens, or even a "Jamaica" grouping of CDU, FDP and the Greens, named after the colors of the Caribbean nation's flag. Both smaller parties have...
...Germany, the Social Democrats are battered by both the hard left - Die Linke - and the soft left, Merkel's Christian Democrats. At least they have a good chance of returning to government as the CDU's junior partner. Merkel might find it too onerous to link up with the FDP, which favors more market and less state. (Read about Merkel in the 2009 TIME...
Angela Merkel will be re-elected as Chancellor of Germany on Sept. 27. That's one of the safest bets around. The only question is whether she will be in a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD), as in the last four years, or with the Free Democrats (FDP), a center-right party out of power for 11. In Merkel's success hangs a tale of significance beyond Germany...
...desire to be in that public eye is palpable. Smaller opposition parties have to work hard for media attention. Westerwelle sealed his reputation as a publicity seeker in the early part of this decade with a flurry of attention-grabbing exploits he hoped would attract younger voters to the FDP. He was, he proclaimed, a Spasspolitiker (a fun politician). His stilted conversation with reality TV show contestants in Germany's Big Brother house was typical of the sort of fun this entailed. (See the Top 10 Skanky Reality Shows...