The leader of Germany's business-friendly Free Democratic Party says he will not form a ruling coalition with the Social Democrats, no matter what happens at the upcoming elections. German commentators on Monday contemplate the difficulties facing all the parties in forming viable alliances after Sunday's vote.

It had been nicknamed the "traffic light coalition" but now one of the partners in this potential political alliance has given it the red light. The prospective coalition is named after the colors associated with the German political parties -- red for center-left Social Democrats, yellow for the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) and green for, unsurprisingly, the Greens.

Whether the coalition could ever come to fruition anyway is obviously dependent on the outcome of German federal elections to be held this coming weekend. However, at a party conference held by the FDP over the weekend the party seemed to rule out any kind of alliance with the SPD. The Social Democrats, who have been steadily gaining in the polls as the election nears had been making overtures toward the FDP.