Negotiations between Angela Merkel's conservatives and the Social Democrats have entered what's being billed, once again, as a decisive day. Labor market and healthcare policy points still divide the two parties.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Fischer
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On Wednesday morning Germany is still awaiting an announcement that Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc and the Social Democrats (SPD) have struck a deal to forge a new coalition government after elections on September 24, 2017.
As she headed into the final round of talks on Tuesday, Merkel called on all sides to make the necessary concessions and strike a deal that would end months of political limbo.
"Each of us will still have to make painful compromises," the chancellor said. "I am prepared to do that if we can be sure in the end that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages," she added.
"We live in turbulent times. We need a government that offers dependability in the interests of the people."
SPD leader Martin Schulz also said today's decisive stalks were "about nothing less than building stable, lasting government in one of the largest industrialized countries in the world."
However, the sides still remain divided on several issues, most notably labor and healthcare policy.
The CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), continue to reject any sweeping changes to Germany's health insurance system. The SPD, meanwhile, wants to see Germany's two-tier health system reformed with a new system that closes the care gap between citizens with private and statutory insurance.
The CDU's Klöckner said her party wanted to see welcome changes to Germany's healthcare model but warned that a "one-size-fits-all" system would be too expensive.
SPD chief Martin Schulz also wants to see the phasing-out of fixed-term job contracts. Some 2.8 million contracts in Germany are said to be on a fixed-term basis without an explicit reason, with workers under the age of 30 particularly affected.
Only once has federal Germany been ruled by a single party with a parliamentary majority. Coalitions are therefore the norm. DW looks at the various governing combinations that have presided in the Bundestag.
Image: Reuters
CDU/CSU - FDP - DP (1949-1957)
The first democratic government to rule West Germany since the end of World War II saw Christian Democratic Union leader Konrad Adenauer form a governing coalition with the Free Democrats and the German Party (a now-defunct national conservative party). When Adenauer's conservatives won re-election four years later, he once again turned to the same coalition partners.
Image: picture-alliance/Vack
CDU/CSU - FDP (1961-1966)
After four years of ruling West Germany on their own between 1957 and 1961, the conservative Union lost their majority in the Bundestag and were forced to enter into coalition with the Free Democrats again. Adenauer resigned in 1963 for his part in the so-called "Spiegel" scandal. His Minister of Economic Affairs Ludwig Erhard (left) was elected by parliament to take over
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
CDU/CSU - SPD (1966-1969)
The first ever "grand coalition" was not the product of an election. Ludwig Erhart was re-elected in 1965 and continued to rule alongside the FDP. However, the following year the Free Democrats left the government over budget disputes. Erhart also resigned and Kurt Kiesinger (right) was chosen to take over. With the FDP out, he governed with the Social Democrats, led by Willy Brandt (left).
Image: dpa
SPD - FDP (1969-1982)
Willy Brandt became Germany's first Social Democratic chancellor in the post-war period. Despite winning fewer votes than the CDU/CSU, Brandt struck a deal with the FDP to give them a narrow majority in the Bundestag. It wouldn't be the last time the liberals would be called out for a perceived lack of loyalty. In 1974, Brandt was replaced by Helmut Schimdt, who went on to win two more elections.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
CDU/CSU - FDP (1982-1998)
The 13-year friendship between the SPD and FDP ended in 1980 as the two parties' differing ideologies became irreconcilable. The liberals again switched sides that year, dropping out of the coalition and seeking a deal with the conservatives. That caused the SPD-led government to collapse and a reborn CDU/CSU-FDP coalition formed under the leadership of Helmut Kohl (pictured).
Image: AP
CDU - DSU - Democratic Awakening (1990)
Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany held its first ever elections. The Christian Democrats under Lothar de Maiziere took over 40 percent of the vote. They went into coalition with two small parties: German Social Union and Democratic Awakening, whose members included one Angela Merkel. In October that year, the government signed the reunification treaty with West Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Wolfgang Kumm
SPD - Green Party (1998-2005)
In 2002, Helmut Kohl's 16-year rule came to an end and the Social Democrats under Gerhard Schröder returned to power. The SPD formed a coalition with the Green party, who became a governing party less than 20 years after being founded. Unlike under Brandt, the SPD now led a left-wing government, rather than a center-left coalition. The SPD-Green party coalition remained in power until 2005.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/W. Baum
CDU/CSU - SPD (2005-2009)
"Grand coalitions" do not come easily. When the first exit polls came in, both Schröder (right) and Angela Merkel (left) declared themselves the winner. In the end, Merkel's conservatives defeated the SPD by just 1 percent. Germany's two largest parties agreed to form the country's second-ever grand coalition.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Bensch
CDU/CSU - FDP (2009-2013)
The "grand coalition" experiment ended in 2009, after the SPD picked up a disappointing 23 percent in the federal elections. The Free Democrats, by contrast, gained almost 5 percent to give them over 14 percent of the vote. Merkel and the FDP's Guido Westerwelle (left) formed a coalition with relative ease. It was, after all, Germany's 11th CDU/CSU-FDP government.
Image: Getty Images/A. Rentz
CDU/CSU - SPD (2013-?)
After taking more than 40 percent of the vote, Merkel's conservatives probably weren't expecting to rule with the SPD. But with her old allies the FDP failing to meet the 5 percent threshold to enter the Bundestag, options were limited. Merkel called on the SPD to join her and "take on the responsibility to build a stable government." She made the same speech again four years later.
Image: Reuters
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Loose ends also still need tying up on foreign, defense, developmental and financial policy.
Officials from the CDU/CSU and the SPD had hoped to conclude the negotiations by Sunday evening, but set aside an additional two-day buffer to reach a deal.
Despite their differences, The deputy leader of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), Julia Klöckner, told reporters on Monday evening she assumed "we will be ready tomorrow night on Tuesday into Wednesday."
Should the talks reach a successful conclusion, the SPD's 450,000 registered members will then get the opportunity to vote on the agreed draft coalition deal. The public is expected to have to wait around three weeks for the vote to yield a result.
Should it pass, a new federal government would be expected to be formed by around Easter.
Key points agreed so far:
An annual limit of between 180,000 to 220,000 migrants allowed to settle in Germany
More money for clinics and doctors in rural areas
More financial aid for families with children
The creation of 15,000 new police jobs split between the federal government and the 16 states
A €4 billion ($4.97 billion) investment into social and private housing construction, with the goal of building 1.5 million new homes by 2021
A €10 billion investment into high-speed broadband expansion, with the right to fast internet enshrined in law by 2025.