Could a left-wing coalition end up running Germany?

A spectre is haunting Germany — the spectre of the left. As Merkel’s Christian Democrats fall further behind in the closing weeks of the federal elections, there is now a real possibility of a left-wing coalition forming that might include the far-left party Die Linke.

‘They will never commit to Nato,’ barked Armin Laschet, leader of Merkel’s CDU and her would-be successor in a televised debate with his rivals last Sunday. He demanded to know if Olaf Scholz, chancellor candidate for the social democratic SPD, and the Greens’ Annalena Baerbock would rule out a coalition with Die Linke. Neither did.

To Armin Laschet and many in his conservative camp, the prospect of a far-left party as part of a German government is so abhorrent that they assume it would put the fear of God in their voters too. Laschet therefore used up much of his air time demonstrating that his competitors would consider working with a party that is not committed to military security, advocates mass immigration and wants to limit the role of the domestic intelligence agency.