SPD membership poll on "grand coalition" agreement opens

BERLIN - The German Social Democrats (SPD) have begun polling their members on whether or not to join another "grand coalition" on Tuesday.

The vote by the more than 463,000 members on the agreement recently negotiated between the SPD, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) is the final hurdle to the formation of a new government under chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) following national elections in September 2017.

The SPD leadership has vehemently made the case for joining a fourth Merkel cabinet on the grounds of significant policy concessions offered by the CDU in the coalition agreement.

Nevertheless, prominent voices in the party, including its youth organization (Juso), are demanding a return to the opposition benches of the German federal parliament (Bundestag) following the SPD's worst ever electoral result since World War II in September (20.5 percent).

Juso leader Kevin Kuehnert has expressed fears that another term in Merkel's shadow could further marginalize social democracy in Germany. Kuehnert has called for the SPD to overcome its widely-publicized personnel disputes and shun government participation to focus on a far-reaching process of strategic re-orientation.

Following weeks of bitter infighting which culminated in the resignation of former party leader Martin Schulz from his prospective post of Foreign Minister, voter support for the SPD in a "BILD" opinion survey has fallen to an unprecedented low of 15.5 percent. As a consequence, the SPD languished far behind the CDU at 32 percent and was even overtaken by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) with 16 percent.