Germany Sets a New Record

Germany set a new record last week. The country has now gone its longest time ever without a government. The previous record, set during the last election, in 2013, was 86 days. This time, the end is still a long way away.

Just over a week ago, Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, its sister party the Christian Social Union and the center-left Social Democratic Party agreed to hold exploratory coalition talks from January 7 to 12. These are exploratory talks, not formal coalition talks.

Der Spiegel reported a couple weeks ago that the social democrats don’t expect the talks to finish before Easter—at the start of April next year. So Germany seems well on its way to smashing that previous record.

And there is no guarantee these talks will be successful. The Social Democratic Party (spd) leaders haven’t fully committed to a deal with Ms. Merkel. For example, one spd state leader said, “Nobody should fall prey to illusions that the grand coalition will become an inevitability just because of a few nice headlines coming out of the preliminary talks.” Even if the leadership does commit, the party members of the spd could still derail it. On January 21, there will a party congress in Bonn, and 600 delegates will have to approve negotiations.

Then even once it’s all done, members of the entire party will have a chance to vote on the agreement—and they could well vote against it.

All the time that this is going on, Angela Merkel’s popularity is falling. Forty-seven percent of those polled said they want her to step down before the next election, currently scheduled for 2021. Only 36 percent want her to stay for a full term if she gets to begin one. That’s a big drop from just three months ago when 44 percent wanted her for another full term.

So Germany’s political instability is set to continue—and Germans are becoming hungrier for a new leader.

So, why are we watching this development?

The Bible warns of a strong leader coming soon in Europe, in passages like Daniel 8:23-25 and Daniel 11:21. These scriptures tell us how he will come to power. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry explained this in a 2009 Key of David program.

So we’ve been watching for exactly this kind of scenario for years. Now Germany has drawn-out coalition negotiations that will lead to an unstable coalition government, if the negotiations are successful at all.

So keep watching Germany’s negotiations. Some dramatic events are coming. For more on these events and where they are leading, read our article “Why the Trumpet Watches: The Rise of a German Strongman.”