Germany remains without a new government as coalition talks following the September vote falter, and as frustration over potential partners’ inability to come to an agreement desire among the voting public for another election grows.
A strong majority of 68 per cent of polled Germans now favour a snap election if the so-called ‘Jamaica coalition’ fails to materialise, reports Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen.
Just 29 per cent of Germans oppose another election — and even if the present coalition talks succeed, just 50 per cent said they favoured it taking power.
The idea of a fresh set of elections has been labelled as a “disaster” for Germany’s mainstream parties, as admitting coalition talks had failed “would be a signal of the incapacity of democratically elected parties”, Senior CDU politician and current Schleswig-Holstein Minister President Daniel Günther has said.
Slamming “extremists” who would stand to benefit from a second vote, the politician may have been making a reference to the populist Alternative for Germany party, which has already surged in the recent vote to become the third largest party in the Bundestag.
The proposed coalition between the Christian Democrats and their Christian Social Union partners, the Free Democrats, and the Green party is so called because the party colours of the participants resemble the Jamaican flag, but even after negotiations lasting late into Thursday night carried on into Friday morning, there was no apparent progress.
While the major disagreements between the parties on issues like mass migration and climate issues — both key areas for the left-wing Green party — have yet to be resolved, the talks have also stumbled on financial matters.
The latest voting intention poll shows Merkel’s CDU on a 17-year record low at 29 per cent, and the Alternative for Germany two points up on their already record-breaking September election result at 14 per cent.
The parties passed their self-imposed deadline for completing coalition talks Friday morning, when Merkel had said she would have given the nation an answer on the future of their government.
While Merkel continues to fight for her reign as Chancellor to extend to a historic fourth term, Breitbart London reported in February that 64 per cent of Germans wanted to see a new chancellor in the now passed September election.