
Next time everything will be different. Then the SPD could forge a government with the greens and the left, because party leader sigmar gabriel had prepared them for it long ago. Or the greens are seeking a coalition with the union because they don't want to be stuck with the SPD for the rest of their political lives with no prospect of government participation. 2017 this could be. In 2013, the sensation obviously failed to materialize.
The draughts between the union and the greens are not as hot as between the CDU, the CSU and the SPD, according to negotiators in berlin over the weekend. A failure of the exploratory talks with the SPD on monday and a yes to a black-green coalition on tuesday – despite all the newfound understanding and some surprising sympathy in the CDU/CSU for the greens – is hard to imagine.
And then finance minister wolfgang schauble (CDU) reports in from afar washington and simply says this sentence: "i believe that we will have a new government in mid november – at least." He expects it to happen much faster than many thought.