In a Berlin cabaret theatre, a comedy that opens with the discovery that Angela Merkel has disappeared is leaving audiences rolling in the aisles. Party officials rush about the stage asking one another "where's Angela?" A few blocks away, in the government district surrounding the Bundestag, the absence of leadership by Ms Merkel is less of a laughing matter. Her centre-right coalition continues to squabble over such fundamental policies as tax cuts and health-care reform three months after it took office. One result is that it is slipping in the opinion polls.
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