CHANCELLOR ANGELA Merkel moved to end a crisis in her coalition yesterday, warning her beleaguered junior partner against pushing a Eurosceptic line to gain political support.
The Free Democrats (FDP) were ejected from the German capital’s state parliament, the fifth poll defeat this year, after a last-minute campaign to turn the “Berlin election into a euro election”.
After the party attracted just 1.8 per cent support in Sunday’s poll – fewer votes than the neo-Nazi NPD – federal FDP leaders distanced themselves from the euro campaign and described it as the work of overzealous local party officials.
Dr Merkel played along, saying it was important to “differentiate between the federal FDP and the [local] Berlin party”. Behind closed doors, however, the German leader warned her junior partner that its “Eurosceptic path” was a road to nowhere.
“I think everyone is aware of their responsibility,” she said later at a press conference. “We’ll continue our work as a government. I don’t think things have become more difficult.” FDP leader Philip Rösler, who triggered a coalition crisis last week by floating the idea of a Greek insolvency, softened his line yesterday.
“My position is pro-European, but with the necessary economic sense,” said Mr Rösler, warning rebels in his party against “over-doing” the criticism of Greece.
His message to the growing Eurosceptic camp in his own party: “Anyone who wants a different kind of party will meet the embittered resistance of the party leader. The party will not go down such a path on my watch.”
The question now is whether, in Berlin, the Eurosceptic genie can be put back in its bottle. A weekend poll by the Emnid agency suggested that one in two Germans would welcome a Eurosceptic party while 40 per cent could imagine voting for it.
Spotting an opportunity, Dr Merkel’s Bavarian ally, the Christian Social Union (CSU), has rushed to fill the gap left by a chastened FDP.
"An enthusiastic supporter of European integration can still lead a controversial discussion about fundamental questions of finance policy," said CSU leader Horst Seehofer to Der Spiegel.
“One isn’t a Eurosceptic just because one formulates the odd critical question. I won’t let myself be intimidated.” The Bavarian politician said he rejected Dr Merkel’s euro zone maxim – “if the euro fails, then Europe fails” – and called for a legal means for Greece to leave the euro zone, if necessary.
The opposition Social Democrats (SPD) celebrated the election win of Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit as a positive sign for their general election chances in 2013.
“The Berlin voters aren’t stupid and the FDP result is proof that one cannot win elections with anti-European politics,” said SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel, saying the time had come for a snap general election.
The SPD would back the expanded EFSF bailout fund in a September 29th parliamentary vote, Mr Gabriel said, but to stabilise the euro “not the [Merkel] government”.
Meanwhile, the upstart Pirate Party struggled yesterday to cope with its startling 9 per cent election success. The party won 15 seats in the new parliament with a programme calling for free public transportation, free wireless internet, greater online data protection and more liberal drug laws.
Political analysts were divided yesterday over whether the result was a protest vote, a Berlin-specific phenomenon, or the birth of a new political force similar to the Green Party. “We’ll turn the trust placed in the Pirate Party into concrete work for more democracy and greater transparency,” said Gerhard Anger, Pirate Party leader in Berlin. “We want to remain a party of participation.”