The Social Democrats, Left and Greens appear to be entertaining notions of a coalition. The parties met in Berlin to hammer out a vision of a Germany without Chancellor Angela Merkel at the helm after next September.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Jensen
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About 100 members of the Social Democrats (SPD), Left and Greens parties met to assess their common vision, though polls say the parties would fall short of the necessary majority to form a "red-red-green" government- a reference to the parties' colors - that would topple Angela Merkel. A survey last week showed the SPD with 22 percent support, the Greens with 11 percent, and the Left at 10 percent.
SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel - Merkel's vice chancellor - even dropped by Tuesday's meeting, causing alarm for the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their uneasy Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union. "Now it's official!" CSU General Secretary Andreas Scheuer told Germany's DPA press agency. "The left front has set itself in motion. Now everyone knows it: The goal is a left-wing republic with red-red-green. The masks are off. This left front will massively damage Germany."
With 34 percent support, according to a recent poll, the CDU and CSU, would remain the Bundestag's biggest bloc. Merkel could also woo the Greens, though the parties don't have the support to govern alone together. The neoliberal Free Democrats - with whom the CDU governed from 2009 until the party failed to meet the 5 percent Bundestag threshold in 2013 - could return to parliament next year, giving Merkel another potential partner.
Merkel beats Gabriel head-to-head, as well. As a result, some SPD members have begun to consider Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, as a possible candidate to take on the chancellor, should she indeed decide to run, as many political analysts expect she will.
10 years of Merkel: The most important moments
Angela Merkel was once seen as the Christian Democrats' interim leader after the departure of Helmut Kohl. Today, she has been party leader for 15 years and ruled Germany for a decade. And the Merkel era continues.
Image: Reuters
Two firsts
"I want to serve Germany": Angela Merkel made that promise when she was sworn in as chancellor on November 22, 2005. Merkel was the first woman to become chancellor, and first chancellor from the former East Germany. She became head of the government, a grand coalition between the Christian Democrats/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Bergmann
Merkel and the guest from Tibet
Merkel's start was shaped by her low-key manner and her more presidential-style of leadership. She caused a stir in 2007 when she met with the Dalai Lama, to the displeasure of Beijing, a visit that resulted in the clouding of German-Chinese relations. Merkel defied concerns and seemed to want to distinguish herself in the field of human rights.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Schreiber
Who's afraid of Putin's dog?
Rumor has it that Merkel is always rational and can keep her nerve. Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently wanted to test the chancellor's limits when he received her in 2007 at his residence in Sochi. And he appeared to find her weakness: the chancellor is afraid of dogs. That didn't stop him Putin from letting his black Labrador Koni sniff around Merkel's heels.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Astakhov
Rescue under the umbrella
In most crisis situations, Merkel remains cool. When the financial markets collapsed in 2008 and threatened to pull down the German economy, she acted. She was significantly involved in the construction of the euro safety umbrella, and distinguished herself as a crisis manager. Germany got off relatively scot-free but Merkel's measures were felt by others, notably the Greeks and the Spaniards.
Image: picture-alliance/epa/H. Villalobos
Second term
Despite polling the second-worst election result in the history of the conservative alliance, the general election on September 27, 2009 was a triumph for Merkel. After the unloved grand coalition with the SPD, she was now able to rule with her preferred partner: the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
Image: Getty Images/A. Rentz
Rapid change of course
Merkel, who as a physicist is known for thinking things through, did not foresee the 2011 nuclear catastrophe in Japan. In the wake of the Fukushima disaster the staunch supporter of nuclear energy changed her tune in record time. A newly agreed long-term extension program for nuclear reactors was quickly overturned, and Germany was on track for a nuclear exit.
Image: Getty Images/G. Bergmann
The man at her side
Who would recognize him? Who knows his voice? In 10 years as chancellor, Merkel's husband Joachim Sauer has remained basically unnoticed. The professor of physical and theoretical chemistry at Berlin's Humboldt University has been married to Merkel since 1998. When his wife is on duty, he remains discreetly in the background. In their private life, however, it's often the other way around.
Image: picture alliance/Infophoto
NSA affair: Crisis of friendship
Of all countries, it was the US, one of Germany's closest allies, that intercepted calls made by top German politicians. The US secret service even bugged the chancellor's cellphone. The wire-tapping disclosures in 2013 were a domestic and foreign policy worst-case scenario for Merkel. One remark in particular was notable: "Spying among friends, that's just wrong!"
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
The Greek patient
Merkel's worldwide fan base is large - though in Greece, it's perhaps a bit smaller. The chancellor faced much hostility in 2014, at the high point of the Greek financial and debt crisis. Old images of the German enemy were resurrected, but Merkel remained steadfast: economize, reform, make cutbacks, those were her demands of the Athens government.
Image: picture-alliance/epa/S. Pantzartzi
A show of emotion
Merkel, typically reserved, let go of all the restraints of protocol at the 2014 FIFA World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro, cheering together with German President Joachim Gauck. She was at the height of her popularity, and the victorious German national soccer team as well, both shaping Germany's image abroad.
Image: imago/Action Pictures
We can do this, can't we?!
Asylum laws know no upper limit, said the chancellor earlier this year as hundreds of thousands of refugees arrived in Germany via the Balkans. "We can do this!" is Merkel’s motto in the face of Europe's refugee crisis. She has a plan, she says. But in the meantime, many Germans are wondering: "Can we succeed?" The answer remains to be seen.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Hoppe
What now, Frau Merkel?
Friday the 13th - a massacre in November. France is in a state of emergency, and Merkel assures her mourning neighbor of "every support." The fear of terrorism has enveloped everyone. Without a doubt, Germany's chancellor is facing one of the greatest challenges of her 10-year anniversary.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. von Jutrczenka
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'An exchange!'
The SPD and Left have so far failed to agree on a common nominee for next year's vote on the largely ceremonial post of German president, underlining the difficulties the three parties would face in forging a government to end the reign that Merkel took up in 2005. The centrist SPD had two previous opportunities to work with the Left and the Greens, in 2005 and 2009, but forwent them both in order to govern with Merkel in grand coalitions and keep the smaller parties at the margins. The three parties also differ on several issues, including Germany's involvement in international military operations.
"We do not want to decide anything concrete," Left parliamentary leader Jan Korte said ahead of Tuesday's meeting. "It is all about an exchange concerning the situation."
Coalition-building could change dramatically next year, with the rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD). Founded just three years ago, the party has merged populist social policy, with conservative thinking and an anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim platform to appear set to enter the Bundestag next year.
