German Official Resigns in Blow to Coalition

[Gunny]

By NICHOLAS KULISH and JUDY DEMPSEY
Published: November 14, 2007

BERLIN, Nov. 13 — Germany’s second most powerful politician, Vice Chancellor Franz Müntefering, has announced that he will resign from office. His departure is likely to destabilize the already shaky power-sharing coalition between the country’s two biggest parties.

The announcement that Mr. Müntefering would step down to care for his ailing wife, who he said last week had her fifth cancer operation, surprised the nation. While Mr. Müntefering insisted in a news conference that the move was based entirely on “personal and private” motivations, he is leaving at a time of growing dysfunction in both the coalition led by Chancellor Angela Merkel and his own party.

Mr. Müntefering helped form that coalition of traditional rivals of the center-left and center-right parties in negotiations after the close election here two years ago. Since that time he has often seemed like the glue that held it together, a stalwart of his left-wing Social Democratic Party but at the same time a confidant and trusted adviser to the conservative Mrs. Merkel.

That has been an increasingly difficult balance to strike as Mr. Müntefering’s party has shifted back toward its traditional base among voters on the left. That in turn has meant trying to roll back economic reforms made under the former chancellor — and fellow Social Democrat — Gerhard Schröder, reforms that Mr. Müntefering helped enact and had recently tried to defend.

His departure will test Mrs. Merkel’s strength as a leader and consensus builder. While she remains very popular, with approval ratings hovering around 70 percent, her successes have only encouraged her coalition partners to differentiate themselves by challenging her policies that much more.

more ... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/w...6efa91182e36c8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Anyone know enough about the German government to explain in layman's terms how this is going to affect Germany?