Merkel's work starts now

Merkel's work starts now

BERLIN - Germans get on with their elections in a very matter-of-fact way. Campaign rallies are small, relatively quiet affairs, and audiences listen carefully to what the candidates say. Voting is orderely and smooth, and turn-out is traditionally high (albeit down this time to a disappointing 72 per cent or so).

Exit polls are broadcast the moment polls close, and they are very reliable. And the day after, a grey and cold Monday here in Berlin, there's a very back to normal feel.  

For Mrs Merkel, the hard work starts here. There is a new centre-right coalition to form, and many commentators are wondering whether we'll now see more of the Angela Merkel that we saw in the 2005 election campaign, committed to free-market policies and reform of Germany's cumbersome welfare state. I'm not so sure.

She strikes me as somebody who strives for consensus. Her CDU party will now -almost certainly- be governing with the Liberal FDP, who want tax-cuts, and reforms to Germany's labour laws, so that it's easier for companies to hire and fire workers.

But I suspect Mrs Merkel sees her greatest priority as steering Germany through the financial crisis. Tax cuts may not feasable at a time of big budget deficits. Meanwhile everyone in Germany is worried about unemployment, and the prospect that it will rise once government stimulus packages expire. This may not be the time for bold reforms.

Sorry if this is a bit dry; it has, undoubtedly been an election dominated by domestic economic concerns.

But here's a thought: if the CDU/FDP coalition does come into being (and the talks about policy and dividing up jobs may take weeks), and if, as expected,  the FDP leader, Guido Westerwelle, becomes Germany's new foreign minister and vice chancellor, it will be an important indicator of how German society has changed. Mr Westerwelle is the first leader of a German political party to be openly homosexual.

As recently as the 1980's, before re-unification, few Germans could have imagined their country would soon be led by a woman from the old East Germany, with a gay deputy leader.