Germany faces new elections as coalition talks collapse around Angela Merkel

Elections in September appear to have been inconclusive

Angela Merkel has so far failed to form a coalition (Getty)

Angela Merkel backed new elections on Monday after coalition talks between German parties collapsed over the weekend.

The CDU leader, who has been Chancellor since 2005, said she would prefer fresh elections to leading an unprecedented minority government after the liberal FDP dropped out of talks.

Ms Merkel had been hoping to form a coalition with the liberals and the Greens, a so-called “Jamaica coalition” – but the chasm between the parties willing to do a deal appears to have been too great.

The country’s largely figurehead President Frank-Walter Steinmeier holds the power to start the process of calling fresh elections. He has called on the parties to “reconsider their attitudes” in order to avert a political crisis in what has long been the most stable country in the EU.

“I expect the parties to make the formation of a new government possible in the foreseeable future,” Mr Steinmeier said in a televised statement, adding that the parties had a responsibility that “cannot be simply given back to the voters”.

If not majority coalition can be formed, the President must nominate a candidate for Chancellor. If no government can be formed after three rounds of voting in the Bundestag, fresh elections will be called.

Germany held its last elections in September, where Ms Merkel’s centre-right CDU/CSU came out on top but lacked a governing majority.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier is a largely ceremonial president, with the Chancellor holding most of the power (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

A continuation of the previous government, a coalition with the CDU/CSU and the centre-left SPD, is out of the question because the SPD has said it wants to return to opposition – a stance reiterated by its leader Martin Schulz today.

After weeks of talks, the FDP dropped out, despite having agreed to moderate its demands for tax cuts. “I regret, with all due respect to the FDP, that we could not come to a mutual agreement,” Ms Merkel said in a statement earlier on Monday.

A poll on the Die Welt website found that 61.4% of people surveyed said a collapse of talks would mean an end to Ms Merkel as chancellor, while 31.5% thought otherwise.

Ms Merkel, who said on Monday evening she was “very sceptical” about a minority government, wants to continue as leader of her party, though a leadership challenge to her authority is not thought to be out of the question.

This year’s elections were notable with big gains for the AfD, the first far-right party to enter the Bundestag in half a century.