German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged her conservatives on Saturday to try to forge a nationally untested three-way alliance with the Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens, her most explicit backing yet for the so-called Jamaica coalition.
Ms. Merkel, whose conservatives won a fourth term in the Sept. 24 election but bled support to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), needs to form a coalition, most likely a Jamaica alliance, named for the black, yellow and green party colours which match Jamaica’s flag. Ms. Merkel said a special party meeting should be held to let members of her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) vote on any coalition deal.
“I advise everyone to concentrate on what lies ahead,” Ms. Merkel told young members of her Christian Democrats (CDU) in Dresden.
“First between the CDU and (Bavarian) Christian Social Union (CSU) then with the Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens and to understand the mandate that voters handed us,” she said.
She also said she believed agreement between her CDU and her CSU Bavarian sister party was possible even though they are at odds on migration policy. The two parties meet on Sunday.
“I will do everything I can to move forward...With good will, that should be possible,” Ms. Merkel said.
Discussion on Catalonia
Also, Ms. Merkel and the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker discussed the Catalan crisis in a phone call, an EU official told Reuters on Saturday, in a sign of growing unease over potential disruption across Europe. Mr. Juncker spoke to Ms. Merkel from India on Friday on the sidelines of an EU-India summit. “They discussed the situation in Spain, among other things,” the EU official said, without adding details.
