He is seen as quite a big fish to swallow for Merkel, since he is more to the left on social issues.
Apparently Merkel does not like him much as well, and Stoiber might have pulled over his weight to get him back into position.
It could also be a clever ploy, to role out the more "social" side of the conservatives. Which afterall was very strongly represented with aforementioned Nobbi Bluem.
Yep. If there is one person who stands for the "S" (Social) in "CSU", it is Seehofer. Stoiber is afraid of him like Dracula of garlic. That's why (Sun Tzu!) Stoiber got him on board, against the heavy opposition within his own party.
Apart from that, I think Seehofer is a good choice for a grand coalition.
But, DoDo, one thing I disagree with: I don't think Schavan will play a significant role in the new government. She is in charge of education, and that is a field in which the "Länder" (regions) traditionally claim more competences than on other political fields. The Länder are mainly governed by CDU personnel, many from the "Anden Pakt". It will be important for Merkel to give them their share, and quite likely it will be more competences in the field of education policy. That means pulling away power from Schavan, who will either have a hard time fighting against this or a pleasant time as the most underemployed minister.
LOL! I just pictured what you said... :-)
I don't think Schavan will play a significant role in the new government. She is in charge of education, and that is a field in which the "Länder" (regions) traditionally claim more competences than on other political fields.
D'oh, you're right!
BTW, we missed you, and the rest of the German crew: would you write us some diaries about what's happening now?
For example, what's up with the Greens, any internal changes? What's this with the votes on deputy parliamentary heads? What comes out of the coalition talks? *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
What's this with the votes on deputy parliamentary heads?
Oh, yes. The fuzz about Lothar Bisky not getting the votes to become deputy parliamentary heads, although every faction is guaranteed one deputy post. Since the other factions can not hope to prevent the Linke from getting one of the posts, there seems to be only one explanation: They could offer their yes-vote to a different member of the Linke-faction, maybe one of the WASG-part. The strategy behind this could be to divide the (quite heterogenous) parts of the Linke and play PDS vs WASG.
