but this may be the only bloc capable of mustering a majority in the Bundestag lower house given that Schroeder and top SPD officials rule out any government with the Left Party which is co-led the rebel ex-SPD leader Oskar Lafontaine whom the Chancellor cordially detests. A spokesman for Schroeder said talk of a grand coalition was "not very helpful" and insisted that the German leader simply wanted to make the SPD as strong as possible. Views on what a grand coalition could achieve in Germany differ greatly. Peter Loesche, a political scientist at the University of Goettingen, predicts a grand coalition would pave the way for major reforms needed to cut the jobless rate of almost 12 per cent and restore growth to a weak economy. But Ludwig Braun, head of German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHT), warns that grand coalitions run the danger of only agreeing watered down legislation. "We cannot afford four more years of deadlock," said Braun as quoted by Bild newspaper. Germany's only experience with a grand coalition, from 1966 to 1969, was relatively successful given that the government passed legislation aimed at both economic and budget reform - the same issues which top the agenda in Berlin today. The grand coalition of almost 40 years ago had a CDU/CSU chancellor, Kurt-Georg Kiesinger, and Social Democratic vice-chancellor and foreign minister, Willy Brandt. This power constellation could mirror that of the next German government if current poll trends continue.
