The World from Berlin Capital's 'Political Landscape in a Lamentable State'

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http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,790275,00.html

Last spring, things were looking up for Germany's Green Party. Frustration with Chancellor Angela Merkel's government was growing and the country was also undergoing a radical reconsideration of nuclear energy in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan, resulting in a spike in support for the Greens. Indeed, the party even managed to take over the governorship of the large, southern state of Baden-Württemberg -- and many thought the same would happen in the city-state of Berlin in the fall.

That was then. Now, things are looking decidedly different for the Greens after coalition talks with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) in Berlin collapsed on Wednesday. Now, instead of calling the shots in the capital, the environmental party will once again be in opposition. And the SPD will likely form a coalition with Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), an arrangement known as a "grand coalition."

The development is all the more surprising given that the SPD and the Greens have long been seen as natural partners on the center-left. And both parties have become increasingly critical of Merkel in recent months with an eye toward unseating her governing coalition with the business-friendly Free Democrats in 2013 general elections.

Now, the two parties would appear to be at odds. Talks between the SPD and the Greens collapsed over plans to construct a new highway through Berlin, with the SPD having initiated the project and the Greens staunchly opposed.