BERLIN—Germany is getting another grand coalition. At least, that’s what the country’s political leaders hope is about to happen.
After a bruising round of negotiations that went days over deadline, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, or CDU, struck a deal last week with the center-left Social Democrats, the SPD, to extend the coalition that has governed Germany for the past four years. SPD members could still scuttle the deal, though. The 443,000 members have final say over whether the party will enter the agreement, with the results of their vote by mail set to be released in early March.
The minority SPD, which last fall had its worst electoral showing since World War II, gained several major concessions from the CDU and is set to take key positions in a new government, including control of the powerful Finance Ministry. But it’s unclear whether that will satisfy a base that is looking for the SPD to more forcefully advocate for the party’s core positions—something its leaders have had difficulty doing from within a coalition over the past four years.