Merkel: I would never govern with ex-communist Left party
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she would never govern with support from the Left party
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that she would never govern with support from Germany's hard-left opposition Left party, an option that two of her would-be successors have refused to rule out ahead of the country's national election in September.
Speaking at a news conference in Berlin Merkel welcomed positive comments by her current vice chancellor Olaf Scholz about their current governing coalition. Scholz, who is also Germany's finance minister, is the center-left Social Democrats candidate to succeed Merkel in the Sept. 26 vote. Of late, he has tried to portray himself as her natural successor, even though he belongs to a different party.
“With me as German chancellor, there would never be a coalition in which the Left party would participate," said Merkel, who announced in 2018 that she wouldn’t seek a fifth four-year term. “Whether this (view) is shared by Olaf Scholz remains open.”
“In that regard it's simply there case that there is a huge difference between him and me when it comes to Germany's future,” she added.
The Left is partly rooted in East Germany’s ruling communist party, dislikes NATO and opposes German military deployments abroad. Critics accuse it of being too close to authoritarian countries such as Russia and Venezuela.
Merkel's center-right Union bloc, whose candidate Armin Laschet is struggling to gain traction with voters according to recent polls, has tried to raise the specter of a future left-wing coalition government between the Social Democrats, the environmentalist Greens and the Left.
Both the Social Democrats and the Greens have expressed reservations about the Left's foreign policy, but haven't categorically ruled out a coalition at the national level. Similar so-called “red-red-green” alliances govern the German states of Berlin, Bremen and Thuringia.