Merkel says to lead CDU again in case of new elections after talks fail

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that she would lead CDU (Christian Democratic Union) again in case of new elections, after the exploratory talks for a government coalition failed Sunday night.

She was "a woman who has responsibility and is also ready to take on more responsibility," the chancellor told the public broadcaster ZDF.

"I'm very skeptical" about leading a minority government, Merkel told ZDF. She added that she was ready to lead Germany for four more years, but that she felt a majority government was necessary for the stability in Germany and Europe.

Coalition talks of the CDU and its Bavarian sister party Christian Social Union (CSU) with the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens have failed on Sunday night after the FDP decided to pull out for irreconcilable differences, mostly on immigration and climate.

Merkel is now facing the most serious political crisis since she assumed office 12 years ago. According to German Basic Law, the Federal Parliament will be dissolved and new elections will be held if new government cannot be formed.

Merkel denied that she personally made mistakes in the talks. "I did what I could, and as I said, we really made progress."

Hours ahead of Merkel's comments, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier appeared to rule out snap elections for now, emphasizing instead the obligation each party had to the voters.

"I expect the parties to make the formation of a new government possible in the foreseeable future," Steinmeier said in a televised statement from Berlin. "The parties had a responsibility that "cannot be simply given back to the voters."

Steinmeier said he would be holding talks with various leaders of the political parties in an attempt to broker an agreement.

Another possibility for Merkel is to form a grand coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SPD). However, the social democrats reiterated their stance to head into the opposition in Bundestag.

"We are not available for a grand coalition," said SPD chairman and defeated chancellor candidate Martin Schulz in Berlin on Monday.

Prof. Oskar Niedermayer from Free University of Berlin told the ARD "Tagesschau" that Merkel will stand in the Bundestag for election as Chancellor and the Federal President then dissolves parliament.

The situation did not mean an end of Merkel's career, as there is no one who could easily replace her in CDU. However, in new elections, the election campaign would be much harder than the past, said Niedermayer.

The German public is in favor of a new election too, according to a quick survey.

The Forsa poll on Sunday showed that 45 percent of all eligible voters spoke for renewed elections as a way out of the current crisis. 27 percent of respondents would like to have a grand coalition and 24 percent a minority government.

Some experts believed that a new election will probably benefit the far-right Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) which garnered 12.6 percent of votes and became the third largest party in the Bundestag.

"We are prepared to become a rational opposition party in the Bundestag. We are looking forward to it and we are looking forward to potential snap elections," Alice Weidel, co-chair of the AfD, said Monday.

Source: XINHUA