A clumsy compromise over the fate of Germany's spy chief has exposed a cruel fact: The parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel's right-left coalition are loveless partners in a dysfunctional relationship that none of them can afford to quit.  

Germany's spy chief is being removed following accusations he harboured far-right sympathies.

Merkel and the leaders of her coalition government had hoped that by ousting Maasen they would end a scandal surrounding him that has gone on for about 11 days. That scandal blew up when he questioned the authenticity of videos appearing to show far right protesters hounding migrants during protests in the eastern city of Chemnitz.

However the solution to the scandal was to essentially promote Maasen out of his job as domestic intelligence chief and give him a better paid job as a state secretary in the interior ministry. That has caused a lot of ill feeling among the rank and file of the governing parties - particularly among the left leaning Social Democrats with their members calling this a disaster and even questioning whether they should remain in the coalition government with Merkel and her Conservatives.

But with polls suggesting that all three parties would suffer if a snap election were called, the leaders have no interest in blowing up this dysfunctional partnership. 

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