Brussels, Madrid, Stockholm, London, Rome In recent years it has become increasingly difficult for European politicians to form stable governments. The societies are changing and with them the parliaments: The people’s parties are getting smaller and smaller, and many new groups are being added. How do you manage to form a stable government anyway?
The example Italy shows that it works if you really want to. The “government of national unity” of Prime Minister Mario Draghi consists of nine parties, which together have 85 percent of the seats in parliament. At the cabinet table, left and right, social democrats and conservatives, plus ministers from the micro-parties, sit together.
The government was born out of necessity, Draghi took over amid the corona crisis. The negotiations went quickly, after the resignation of his predecessor Giuseppe Conte, just 18 days passed before he took office.
Italy has been more stable since February than it has been in decades. This is mainly due to Draghi’s authority and style of government – but also to the capable technocrats whom the former central banker has placed in key ministerial posts.
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A similar jolt would be needed in the Netherlands, where elections were made in March, but a coalition is not yet in sight. Many of the 17 parties can hardly be integrated into a government. Although the incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD party has gained votes, it is now difficult for him to make an offer that is attractive to several partners at the same time.
Creative solution in Ireland
In addition to the fragmented party system, there is another important reason for this: After the election, Rutte publicly said “the untruth” and was caught doing it. Now he has to go far towards his partners in order to convince them to enter into a coalition with him of all people.
However, he is not under pressure: as long as no one can form a coalition against him, he will remain in office. The longer this situation lasts, the sooner MPs might be willing to forget his scandal. So it may take a while before a new coalition is in place.
With a creative solution, politicians prevented in Ireland a blockade after the 2020 election. Two conservative parties that were previously considered arch-rivals and had both lost the election got together.
But it was more important to both of them to keep the left party Sinn Fein with its historical connections to the terrorist organization IRA out of power. The Greens also took part, otherwise it would not have been enough.
Since the coalition parties Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are roughly equally strong, they agreed to share the office of prime minister. Michael Martin of Fianna Fail is currently in power, and next year he will hand over the office to Leo Varadkar of Fine Gael, who had been Prime Minister before the election. The government is stable, which is mainly due to the fact that the parties are not far apart in terms of content.
More stable government than its predecessors.
(Photo: AP)
The power structure in Latvia. There was no clear winner from the elections on October 6, 2018. Two MPs failed in their attempt to form a new government.
After three and a half months of intensive negotiations, a highly unusual government emerged: It is supported by two conservative, two populist and one liberal parties. The head of government is Krisjanis Karins from Vienotiba, the smallest of the seven parliamentary groups in parliament. He is more stable than most of his predecessors.
Quarreling in Spain
With similar problems came in Spain the second government of socialist Pedro Sanchez took office in January 2020. The year before, Sanchez had said of his coalition partner Podemos that he “could just as little sleep as 95 percent of Spaniards” if the party was part of the government.
The reason was the demands of the left-wing populists for core ministries such as finance, social security and labor. But after four elections in four years and a number of shaky minority governments, it was clear that a government that was as stable as possible was needed.
Sanchez’s government is based on 44 percent of the MPs in parliament and needs the help of small parties – including the Catalan independence advocates, who take advantage of their position of power and keep demanding new concessions.
The bickering moved into the background due to the corona crisis. The billions from the EU fund helped Sánchez to get his own budget through parliament for the first time at the end of last year. It therefore looks like Sánchez will remain head of government for a full term until 2023.
Unflattering words about the new coalition partner.
(Photo: imago images / ZUMA Wire)
Spain is adopting a model that has long been practiced in Scandinavia. In Denmark, Sweden and Norway Governments are often based on several parties and yet do not have their own majority in parliament.
The Danish Social Democrats rely on the right-wing populist People’s Party. In Norway, the heads of government in earlier years always sought parliamentary help from the right-wing populist Progress Party. In Sweden, despite cooperation agreements with the Greens and Socialists, the Social Democrats have often sought support from the Conservatives.
Accept the situation and go unusual ways – Germany can learn that from other countries. The political scientist Uwe Jun from the University of Trier says that there is another success factor: coalitions are stable when the partners do not get in each other’s way too much.
There were too many compromises, especially in the grand coalitions in Germany. Jun speaks of “traditional coalition agreements”. It is better if the parties treat each other to projects and successes, thus giving the ministers plenty of room for maneuver.
More: The FDP and the Greens have surprisingly already met for talks – where it becomes difficult in the negotiations