Dutch gridlock could hold a portent for Germany

Six months since the elections, the Netherlands is yet to get a government as coalition talks grind on

Chancellor Angela Merkel arriving for a meeting on Tuesday.

If German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to see how tough it can be to form a multi-party government, she needs only look across the border at the Netherlands, where four-party coalition talks are still grinding on more than six months after the election.

Talks resumed here on Tuesday afternoon. On his way in, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he did not have any tips for Ms. Merkel. “She’s very wise and will be able to handle it without my advice, no doubt,” he said.

Lengthy talks to form a coalition government are a regular feature in some European democracies — Belgians once had to wait more than 500 days for a new government.

Position weakened

Ms. Merkel’s bloc came in first in Sunday’s vote but its position was weakened. Her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavaria-only ally, the Christian Social Union (CSU), won 33% of the vote — down from 41.5% four years ago. Her coalition partner for the last term, the Social Democrats led by Martin Schulz, won 20.5% and vowed to go into Opposition.

The most politically plausible option for Ms. Merkel is a three-way coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats and the traditionally left-leaning Greens.

The current Dutch negotiations are the second-longest on record for them, eclipsed only by a 208-day formation process in 1977.

The parallels

Her position now is similar to that of Mr. Rutte — they both emerged victorious after an election, but lost seats and their coalition partners.

Mr. Rutte initially tried to build an alliance between his free market People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, the Christian Democrats, the centrist D66 party and Green Left. The Greens, however, pulled the plug on that alliance in May when negotiators failed to bridge the yawning gaps between the parties on immigration policy. Ms. Merkel will likely face a similar problem if she attempts to co-opt the German greens into a coalition.

The talks “will certainly be very complicated and very difficult,” said the Greens’ co-leader, Katrin Goering-Eckardt. “We will negotiate with great responsibility and great seriousness.”