The House of Wagenknecht

Can coalition talks in the east be brought to a happy end?

Photo by Esther Tuttle on Unsplash

Dear Reader,

You have to imagine coalition negotiations after German state elections as akin to an arranged marriage between two feudal households.

There is a certain etiquette to proceedings.

The party with the most votes will offer Sondierungsgespräche, a sort of get-to-know-you flirt, to one or more potential candidates. Once they have established which of the suitors is willing to give up the biggest dowry, they make their intentions clear by publicly declaring that they will enter Koalitionsverhandlungen with the chosen candidate.

The word Verhandlung means negotiation, but that is a bit of a misnomer here.

By the time we’ve reached this stage, the ring is basically on the finger. Anyone prepared to walk away once things have gotten to the stage of formal negotiations would need nerves of steel. The public has already been informed and is looking forward excitedly to the impending wedding.

I haven’t lived in Germany for long enough to say for sure, but…