German SPD lawmakers sceptical about Merkel deal

German Social Democrats (SPD) are complaining about a provisional deal to govern with their conservative rivals only a day after it was agreed, with some questioning whether the party can stomach Angela Merkel as chancellor.

Michael Mueller, a deputy head of the SPD's parliamentary group who has been touted as a possible Environment Minister in a Merkel Cabinet, went so far yesterday as to question whether the conservative leader was up to doing the top job.

"It will be difficult with her because I don't think she can do it," Mr Mueller said of Ms Merkel, who was vilified for months by the SPD as a cold-hearted economic radical during Germany's nasty election campaign.

The conservatives and outgoing Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's SPD agreed on Monday to start formal coalition talks in a deal which makes Ms Merkel the country's first female leader and shares out Cabinet posts equally between the two camps.

The agreement, breaking three weeks of stalemate after an inconclusive federal election, should lead to the formation of a government in mid- to late-November.

Ms Merkel also faced sobering comments yesterday from leaders of the Christian Social Union (CSU), conservative allies of her Christian Democrats (CDU). They made clear they expected to be involved in decisions at an early stage even if she was formally head of the government.

"The decisions will be made by the party leaders and the leaders of the parliamentary groups," said CSU chief Edmund Stoiber, set to become economy and technology minister.

To become chancellor, Ms Merkel needs the support of 308 of the 614 members of the lower house in a parliamentary vote.

As her conservative group has 226 seats, she would need a further 82 supporters from the SPD, just over a third of its 222 lawmakers, assuming opposition parties don't support her.

In a Monday vote on whether to start formal coalition talks with Ms Merkel, about a third of the SPD leadership abstained or voted no.

"I assume that not all SPD votes will go to Merkel because there are great reservations," Family Minister Renate Schmidt said yesterday on Bayerische Rundfunk radio, noting that Ms Merkel stood for pro-market policies her party had rejected.

Others in the SPD are disgruntled over the division of ministries. Ms Merkel agreed to the SPD having eight posts in her Cabinet, the same number as her conservatives.

But by securing the finance and labour ministries, some in the SPD now fear their party will be linked with the bad news on Germany's out-of-control budget deficit and high unemployment.

The SPD's public disgruntlement could be designed to bolster the party's position in policy talks that start next Monday.

Both parties know they would lose if a deal fell through as no other coalitions seem viable and polls show neither would improve on their election results in the event of a fresh vote.

Ludwig Stiegler, another deputy leader of the SPD group in Parliament, said he would put aside his fierce criticism of Ms Merkel and vote for her if his party backed a coalition pact.