Germany Likely to Face Long Wait for New Government After Vote

German voters head to the polls in a winter election on Sunday but may not have a new government for some time.

- Agence France-Presse

BERLIN:

Arduous coalition negotiations tend to drag on for weeks if not months in Germany, spelling long stretches of political paralysis before a new chancellor takes charge.

The confident poll frontrunner Friedrich Merz has said he's aiming for an Easter deadline—April 20—for a deal and urged potential allies to get ready for speedy talks. "If we spend weeks, possibly months... then the period in which this country is without a majority capable of governing will be too long for me," Merz said in a recent Politico interview.