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[email protected] URL: www.uob.com.sg/research Macro Note Germany: Angela Merkel Back In Charge Monday, 05 March 2018 Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) voted decisively for a coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives on Sunday, clearing the way for a new government in Europe’s largest economy and ending months of political uncertainty. Suan Teck Kin, CFA In contrast to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) / Christian Socialist Union (CSU), the SPD Head of Research
[email protected] asked their members of which a total 463,723 were eligible to participate in a vote on the coalition treaty via a simple “yes” or “no” decision. The ballot took place between 20 February and 2 Lee Sue Ann March, and the result was published on 4 March, with the “yes” winning 66.02% of the votes Economist
[email protected] (78.4% participation rate). From Here… Merkel’s path to chancellorship is now cleared. Federal President FrankWalter Steinmeier will shortly propose Merkel as his candidate for the chancellorship. Merkel needs at least 355 out of 709 votes in the Bundestag to become chancellor again, but given that the CDU/CSU/SPD, with a total of 399 seats, holds a comfortable majority, a defeat for her seems unlikely. Once Merkel is elected on 14 March, she can start nominating her cabinet. Please refer to the next page for Germany’s likely new government going forward. Germany: Angela Merkel Back In Charge Monday, 05 March 2018 1 Page Germany’s Likely New Government Merkel has led Germany for 12 years, and by the end of this new term, she Angela Merkel Chancellor will be tied with fellow CDU predecessors Helmut Kohl and Konrad Adenauer (CDU) in terms of office tenure.