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German Coalition Talks Likely to Take Months
After the last election, it took almost 90 days to form a government
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If German Chancellor Angela Merkel takes as long to form a government after Sunday’s election as she did four years ago, it will be almost Christmas before one is in place. The Social Democrats have already said they won’t renew the “grand coalition” that required 86 days to put together. That leaves the only obvious option a three-way tie-up between Merkel’s Christian Democratic-led bloc, the Free Democrats and the Greens: a formula untested at national level and with significant policy differences to overcome.