Angela Merkel's wobbly restart

摘要

Even its supporters cannot claim that Germany's centre-right government has got off to an impressive start. Since the coalition of Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (cdu) with Guido Wester-welle's Free Democrats (fdp) took office in late October, a row over Afghanistan has toppled one minister and engulfed a second; the government has enacted tax cuts nobody seems to want; and it has feuded bitterly over a minor appointment to a museum. Ms Merkel, the supposed "climate chancellor", failed to rescue the planet in Copenhagen (see page 43). Her Christmas holiday, mostly spent cross-country skiing, must have come as a relief.