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Germany fears 'wedding of elephants'By Kristina Cooke for CNN ANALYSISYOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- Should Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder narrowly lose Germany's general election on September 18, there is still the possibility that his SPD party could hang on to power -- by forming a "grand coalition" with their opponents the Christian Democrats (CDU). Both Schroeder and his main opponent Angela Merkel have consistently denied that either party is considering joining forces if the September election delivers a hung parliament. But top politicians, including the SPD's Interior Minister Otto Schily and Finance Minister Hans Eichel are refusing to rule the option out. According to the latest polls, even if the SPD formed a coalition government with the Greens and the new Left Party (something Schroeder has said he has no plans to do), they would still come a close second to a coalition of Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). If there was a grand coalition, the leader of the party with the most votes would be chancellor -- in other words, Angela Merkel. It is very unlikely that Schroeder would stay on to play second fiddle to his opponent. Grand coalitions -- coalitions between the two main parties -- have a dubious reputation in German politics. There has only ever been one on a national level, which lasted a mere three years between 1966 and 1969. Some parallels to today can be drawn. In 1966 Germany found itself in a crisis at the end of the economic miracle, with urgent need for economic reform. SPD Interior Minister Otto Schily told German TV recently that the 1966 coalition was better than its reputation. "If you look at the results of the grand coalition, it accomplished a lot." In 1966-69 many deep-rooted federal reforms were pushed through, creating a political knot which no government since has had enough support in parliament to undo. But, says analyst Hans-Guenther Hockerts, grand coalitions only work on issues on which there is a broad consensus. Business leaders and politicians also warn of the pitfalls of a grand coalition. While they can agree on some issues, the two parties have strong divergent positions when it comes to economic and environmental policy. In foreign policy, there are differences regarding the relationship with the U.S. and the question of Turkey's accession to the EU. But on some issues there would be consensus: both parties are pro-EU constitution, and both want to see a continuation of the special relationship with France. The problems would, more than likely, arise over tax and employment policies. The CDU wants to reduce the Social Democratic tax on high-earners, and make the job market more flexible by giving more rights to employers. On the environment too, arguments seem unavoidable. The SPD wants to spend more, while the CDU wants to cut spending on renewable energy. Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who is head of the Green Party, said at the beginning of his election campaign that a grand coalition would bring Germany to a standstill. He said talk of a grand coalition equated a concession to the CDU, for which there was no need for at a time when "the wind was changing" in favor of the SPD/Green coalition. Another prominent Green Party politician, Krista Sager, told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that a coalition between the two main parties would be a "wedding of elephants" and make no political sense. "The political direction of such a coalition remains completely unclear." While both Schroeder and Merkel say speculation about a possible post-election coalition is counter-productive. But a number of high-profile gaffes by the CDU have meant that the gap between the two main parties is getting smaller, making the grand coalition an increasingly plausible option. 
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