Social Democratic Party (SPD)

The Social Democratic Party's platform to raise the minimum wage and for single-tier health insurance resonated with voters and contrasted with the left's failure. Sibylle Kaczorek reports.

After 60 days of discussions, negotiations for a new governing coalition have failed in Germany, leaving the country without a government.

Last September’s general election – in which the far-right obtained an unprecedented and alarming result – left no party with an absolute majority, forcing incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel to look for partners to form a new government.

The picture that emerges from the German elections, held on September 24, is cause for concern on multiple fronts — especially in the surge to the neo-Nazi Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Alongside Chancellor Angela Merkel winning a fourth term and the clear defeat of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the shadow of a resurgent neo-Nazism casts a serious threat not only for Germany itself, but all of Europe.