Schroeder expected to step down in deal with Merkel
By MarketWatch
Last Updated: 10/10/2005 1
48 AM
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is expected to resign and turn over Germany's government to Angela Merkel in a deal being finalized Monday by the nation's two major political parties, according to a media report.
Merkel would preside over a cabinet equally balanced between center-left and center-right ministers in a "grand coalition" formed after last month's indecisive elections in which neither Schroeder's Social Democrat party nor Merkel's Christian Democratic Union won enough seats in parliament to govern alone, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. See Wall Street Journal story (subscription required).
The 61-year-old Schroeder is expected to ignore requests from members of his party to serve as foreign minister in the 51-year-old Merkel's cabinet and leave government, The Journal said. Schroeder has been chancellor since 1998.
Concrete policies will be hammered out in coalition talks that could start this week, The Journal said. The overall tendency is likely to be reminiscent of the overhaul of the welfare state and labor market that Schroeder began in 2003, The Journal reported.
Schroeder's "Red-Green" administration, which has governed the world's third-biggest national economy since 1998, brought together Social Democrats and Greens in an attempt to modernize Germany's economy while promoting social inclusion and environmentally friendly lifestyles, The Journal said.
http://www.investors.com/breakingnews.asp?journalid=32128237
By MarketWatch
Last Updated: 10/10/2005 1
48 AM SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is expected to resign and turn over Germany's government to Angela Merkel in a deal being finalized Monday by the nation's two major political parties, according to a media report.
Merkel would preside over a cabinet equally balanced between center-left and center-right ministers in a "grand coalition" formed after last month's indecisive elections in which neither Schroeder's Social Democrat party nor Merkel's Christian Democratic Union won enough seats in parliament to govern alone, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. See Wall Street Journal story (subscription required).
The 61-year-old Schroeder is expected to ignore requests from members of his party to serve as foreign minister in the 51-year-old Merkel's cabinet and leave government, The Journal said. Schroeder has been chancellor since 1998.
Concrete policies will be hammered out in coalition talks that could start this week, The Journal said. The overall tendency is likely to be reminiscent of the overhaul of the welfare state and labor market that Schroeder began in 2003, The Journal reported.
Schroeder's "Red-Green" administration, which has governed the world's third-biggest national economy since 1998, brought together Social Democrats and Greens in an attempt to modernize Germany's economy while promoting social inclusion and environmentally friendly lifestyles, The Journal said.
http://www.investors.com/breakingnews.asp?journalid=32128237
