06 July 2018, Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Federal Minister for Internal Affairs, Horst Seehofer (R) of the Christian Social Union (CSU) at a cabinet meeting. Kay Nietfeld/ Press Association. All rights reserved.
Earlier this year, Angela Merkel finally managed to put together a grand coalition between Germany's traditional mainstream parties: the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU); and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). It is a coalition already living on borrowed time.
This has nothing to do with the fact that the SPD has been sagging in the polls, further weakening an already declining party. It has far more to do with the CDU's "sister party," the Bavarian CSU. Traditionally, the two parties have been in a joint parliamentary group. This, however, has not prevented the CSU from repeatedly threatening to extend its reach beyond the borders of Bavaria, forming a "genuinely" conservative-national party to directly compete with the CDU.
