Germany's biggest political parties are in the throes of heated coalition debates. With the deadline looming, ministries are fighting over issues from gay marriage to pay and dual citizenship.
<b>UPDATE:</b> Almost two weeks after winning the German elections, Chancellor Angela Merkel opened exploratory talks on Friday with her defeated centre-left rivals on whether they can jointly govern Europe's biggest economy.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party said it will start talks with the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) on Friday on forming a possible left-right “grand coalition”.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government is doing better in polls than it has done for more than three years, with less than six months to go before the general election, a survey published on Wednesday showed.
Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg is thinking about resigning after the Chancellery failed to tell him about an investigation it instigated into evidence he presented over a fatal attack in Afghanistan.
German taxpayers face extra burdens as the federal government considers tax rises to tackle the gaping budget deficits forecast in the years ahead, a media report said Friday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her centre-right coalition on Thursday evening following widespread criticism that the government had bungled its first 100 days in power.
Germany's newly elected government unveiled its plans for the next four years on Saturday, spearheaded by €24 billion of tax cuts despite the country's mammoth debt mountain.
The conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) have agreed to form a coalition state government in Thuringia after seven weeks of post-election wrangling, the two sides announced on Monday.
The negotiating government coalition partners seem to have agreed on the outlines of a future energy policy – with nuclear power as a key component to bridge the time until renewable sources such as wind and solar supply what is needed.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) signed a coalition agreement on Saturday to form the state government of Schleswig-Holstein.
The Left Party in the state of Brandenburg has cleared the way for a "red-red“ coalition with the Social Democrats after chairwoman Kerstin Kaiser ruled herself out of a ministry on Sunday amid concerns about her past links to the East German Stasi.
Germany's incoming centre-right coalition partners the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Free Democrats (FDP) are planning a big increase in child benefits, daily <i>Frankfurter Rundschau</i> reported on Thursday.
Guido Westerwelle, leader of Germany’s biggest opposition party, used to make headlines for moving into TV’s Big Brother house for a few hours, painting his party’s election goal on the soles of his shoes, and coming out of the closet.
