BERLIN: A tentative German coalition government deal cleared a key hurdle Friday when the Social Democrats? party board gave the green light to the agreement hammered out in marathon talks.
The SPD, Germany?s second largest party, said in a statement that its 45-member board had overwhelmingly given its blessing to formal coalition negotiations with Chancellor Angela Merkel?s conservatives following a deal in principle sealed earlier in the day. The draft programme, outlining policy goals during Merkel?s fourth term, must now be approved by 600 SPD delegates at a party congress on January 21 and then by the party?s more than 400,000 rank and file members.European leaders welcomed a breakthrough Friday in German Chancellor Angela Merkel?s bid to form a coalition, hoping it will end months of political paralysis and unblock key EU reforms. Merkel?s promise to give Europe a ?fresh start? was seen as a positive signal to French President Emmanuel Macron?s ambitious proposals for rebooting the bloc after Brexit. But as the EU awaited the return of its economic and political heavyweight to the political fray, questions remained about whether a new Merkel-led coalition would be strong enough to push through the reforms. Macron said he was ?happy and satisfied? that a coalition deal was in sight, while a French government spokesman said the blueprint was ?good for Germany, good for France and above all good for Europe.?
01-13-2018, 07:23 AM
Social Democrats party board approves Merkel coalition deal
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