Germany in leadership limbo
2005-09-19 06:53
Berlin - Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his conservative challenger Angela Merkel each claimed they should lead Europe's biggest economy after a cliffhanger general election left Germany in political limbo Monday.
Merkel's opposition Christian Democrats appeared to have scratched out a narrow victory over Schroeder's Social Democrats in Sunday's election but crucially failed to secure a ruling majority.
Schroeder and Merkel both insisted they had each won a mandate to form the next government.
Coalition search to begin
Both leaders were to meet with their party officials on Monday to begin intense negotiations to find coalition partners.
Provisional official results gave Christian Democrats 35.2% of the popular vote, possibly its worst result in the post-World War II period, and only narrowly ahead of the Social Democrats (SPD) at 34.3%.
Three-seat advantage
That equates to a three-seat advantage for the Christian Democrats with 225 seats to 222 for the SPD, but both figures are well short of the number required for a ruling majority.
Merkel's intended coalition partners, the pro-business Free Democrats, tallied a surprisingly strong 9.8%, but still not enough for her to form the center-right majority she said she needed to rejuvenate the stalled economy and help the 4.7 million jobless back to work.
Nevertheless, Merkel said she had the upper hand and would negotiate with all the major parties with a view to creating a coalition.
'We're strongest' - Merkel
"We are the strongest party and want to form the government," said Merkel, 51, who had been tipped to win the election and become Germany's first woman chancellor.
But the charismatic Schroeder, 61, refused to concede defeat and insisted he should serve a third term as the country's leader.
"I feel I have won approval to provide a stable government for the next four years under my leadership," he told a euphoric crowd at SPD headquarters.
'A recipe for gridlock'
The results mean the two biggest parties may be forced into an unwieldy grand left-right coalition - a prospect Merkel has labeled a recipe for gridlock.
Schroeder said his party, boosted by a result that exceeded most expectations after they had trailed by a double-digit margin for much of the campaign, would never enter into a coalition under Merkel.
"Mrs Merkel will not obtain a coalition with the SPD if she wants to become chancellor," he said.