Merkel Cabinet Rife with Suspicion and Mistrust

(Spiegel) It is a disastrous start for Angela Merkel's new government: After details of a child pornography investigation were leaked, a cabinet member was forced to resign. Now, the chancellor's new cabinet is consumed by backbiting and mistrust.

It was a difficult start to Chancellor Angela Merkel's third term. Coalition negotiations with the Social Democrats (SPD) following last fall's election proved challenging, with several weeks going by before Merkel's conservatives were finally able to come to terms with their center-left partners. And then the chancellor cracked her pelvis on a ski trip over New Year's.

Still, as 2014 began, the chancellor -- and the country at large -- was optimistic that the business of actually running the country could finally take center stage. Reimagining German foreign policy, introducing dual citizenship, fixing the problems with the country's turn toward renewable energies: There is plenty to do.

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