'All parties need to come to their senses': readers on Germany's political turmoil

Coalition talks have broken down between Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), the pro-business FDP and the Green party after German federal elections at the end of September.

Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is urging party leaders to rethink their positions and try again to form a government. The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), Merkel’s partners in the outgoing government, say they will not budge from their refusal to enter a new Merkel-led administration. If that stands, a minority government or new elections are the only options.

We asked voters in Germany to explain the situation as they see it and tell us how they hope the talks will play out.

‘We are far away from chaos’ – Edgar, 53, Stuttgart, engineer

Germany has a tradition of coalition governments. And we have a strong constitution with good checks and balances, so nobody has to fear anything from this situation. German democracy is not under threat.

The current government will stay in charge until a solution is found. Either Merkel continues to govern with a minority in parliament, or she is looking for a different coalition setup and tries again, or we will have new elections. All of our states have state-governments that are functioning, so we are far away from chaos.

The FDP and Greens are definitely bunglers. Both parties have some good visions and ideas, but it’s either the lack of designing policies in an acceptable way or a lack of responsibility for the whole country. The FDP is famous for catering to their special clientele like doctors, lawyers, and treating everyone else like morons. I haven’t seen anything as amateurish as them for long time. Voting for Die Linke or AfD [Alternative für Deutschland] in my mind is totally irresponsible. But as they are a reality, I likewise don’t understand why the established parties don’t want to talk to them. It’s 20% of voters and it’s a mistake to ignore them.

The only option left for me is currently the CDU, even though I don’t always like their policies. I really hate Martin Schulz. He should resign as a politician. The SPD is full of much better talent.

I was not happy about Merkel’s decision to open our borders in such an uncontrolled manner. This was her single biggest mistake. It was not a mistake to offer generous help to Syrian refugees. But there are other ways this could have been done. I don’t support the approach that people can come to Europe without being checked and having no passports. I think she is one of the best politicians in the world. She is very clear in her thinking and a very rational leader who focuses on keeping Germany out of trouble.

We have low unemployment, a solid constitution, no undemocratic forces in the parliament or a strong army with a non-democratic agenda. Germany is well embedded into the international community and not an isolated country any longer.

It’s a new situation that we didn’t have for 70 years, but our constitution is robust and we will have stability and there will be a government. All parties need to come to their senses and they will. Some politicians simply will grow up.

‘Elections could lead to better coalition opportunities’ – Clara, 24, Berlin, student

I support Die Linke and the Greens, though I feel conflicted about the latter, especially considering the fact they are willing to form coalitions with the CDU and, worse, CSU, which I feel shows they have moved far from their original leftist, perhaps even socialist, founding ideals.

I think there are many valid criticisms of Merkel, but I do respect her much more since she opened the borders in summer 2015. She’s definitely preferable to many other members of her party, and virtually everyone in the CSU (not to mention AfD) but she is still a member of her party.

I was looking forward to a new coalition taking over from the stale grand coalition, despite the fact that I am almost diametrically opposed to the CSU and FDP and find the CDU barely tolerable. On the other hand, new elections could lead to entirely different, and perhaps better, coalition opportunities, though I also fear that the AfD might gain in strength, which is the worst possible outcome.

I hope there will be new elections and that these result in gains for leftist parties, perhaps even leading to a red-green or even red-red-green coalition, while the AfD and FDP – now that it has become clearer how unwilling either are to work for the German people – get less than 5% of votes again and don’t enter the Bundestag.

Of course, I don’t consider any of that particularly likely, but one can hope.

‘In a re-election, nothing much will happen’ – Mark, 48, Berlin and Helsinki, creative industry

Martin Schulz’s refusal to enter another government with the CDU was a stupid move. Had he not been so strong in his comments, he could have returned as a knight in shining armour to save Germany from international embarrassment and help unify the country. Maybe with a little help from the Greens.

The FDP had no intention of joining the Jamaica coalition [CDU/CSU/FDP/Green] in the first place. I think this is all grandstanding to position FDP as a CDU/CSU contender and sideline the SPD. FDP is just a thinly veiled, more civilised version of AfD; it is not a liberal party. Merkel will hit back at FDP, deservedly, for their little strategy play. All other parties are bit-part players.

I’m a green atheist, so the CDU isn’t my cup of tea, but Merkel is a star politician and a voice of reason. Sure, she could be more progressive, and make Germany a little less bureaucratic, but all in all a world-class leader. Martin Schultz is as interesting as a brick.

In a likely re-election, nothing much will happen. The SPD will lose some votes to the CDU and Greens. The FDP will get some votes from AfD. So in a few months we’ll be more or less in the same situation. The SPD will be most hurt.

‘We are lucky to have Merkel’ – Friedrich, 57, Kiel, public servant

I trust that we will manage the situation but I am far from pleased. I am somewhat disturbed by the decline of the two big parties – the CDU and SPD. The SPD seems rudderless right now.

Our two largest parties worked together and both lost in the process. The fringe parties got too strong, so that none of the coalitions we are accustomed to are possible. And a new grand coalition would worsen the situation in the long run.

I wish the pro-business FDP had shown a bit more responsibility. I hope either for a Jamaica coalition or a new election, which would probably be in spring 2018. This is enough time for the people to reorient themselves.

I really wanted not to vote for Angela Merkel, because an eternal chancellor is not healthy for our democracy. But the alternative was not very convincing. She is a great chancellor. I like that she remains calm and that she does not give in to the politicians’ urge to please the media. She is smart and she is modest in her personal life. We are lucky to have her. But all good things have to end sometime.

The German thing about the mess is that we are only experiencing a mere shadow of the type of crisis other nations are accustomed to.

*Some names have been changed