Germans wake up to a minority government

They just aren't sure who the minority government actually is just yet.

The article goes a long way towards explaining the curious factions that dominate the German political scene.

Money Quote:

"At the moment no party has an overall majority in the new parliament – with the CDU (Christian Democrats) on 225 seats, the SPD (Social Democrats) on 222, the FDP (Free Democrats) on 61, the Left party on 54, and the Greens on 51. The only way for either Merkel or Schröder to govern is at the head of a coalition. The problem is: which coalition? The FDP’s Guido Westerwelle has ruled out doing a deal with Mr Schröder; Mr Schröder has ruled out forming a ‘grand coalition’ with the CDU under Mrs Merkel; and everybody has ruled out doing a deal with the new Left Party.

The only coalition that seems possible is the ‘Jamaican’ coalition between the CDU, FDP and the Greens (so called because the parties' black, yellow and green colours resemble the Jamaican flag). Before the election nobody had given this option much thought. This morning, though, the CDU will almost certainly be making overtures to Joschka Fischer – Germany’s ex-street fighting foreign minister. He now appears to have the role of kingmaker."

So it's either the 'Jamaican coalition' with the Greens somehow working hand in hand with the conservative Christian Democrats, or some form of a minority government.