German chancellor Angela Merkel's government called for unity today after coalition rebels forced a humiliating vote over the presidency that could lead to pressure for her austerity package to be watered down.
The struggle to get Christian Wulff elected to the largely ceremonial post of head of state yesterday, even when Ms Merkel had a clear majority on paper, showed growing disenchantment with the leadership of her nine-month-old centre-right alliance.
Analysts said party cadres sent a clear message to the chancellor that she needed to make major changes and possibly tone down her €80 billion euro austerity drive, criticised at home as unfair and abroad as likely to hinder the world recovery.
Coming after a series of resignations depriving Ms Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of its most experienced figures - as well as Horst Koehler's sudden departure as president - the vote cast doubts on the German leader's future.
Dozens of members of parliament from Ms Merkel's coalition twice voted against Mr Wulff and only obeyed in the third round after the chancellor made a personal plea for unity.
"We've got the message: we've got to start working better as a coalition," the CDU deputy leader Hermann Groehe said on German television.
Some newspapers called it a "disaster" for Ms Merkel and her main ally Guido Westerwelle of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP). "Merkel and Westerwelle are fighting for their political survival," the business daily Handelsblatt said.
The healthcare debate, with the government needing to plug a funding gap of €11 billion next year alone, has provoked a slanging match in the coalition, with the FDP accusing Mr Merkel's Bavarian conservative sister party, the Christian Social Union, of acting like "wild sows" to block health reforms, and the CSU calling the FDP "clowns".
The disarray in the 55-year-old chancellor's government is all the more surprising given the historic setback suffered by the main opposition Social Democrats in last year's national election, and the strong recovery in the German economy.
The government is confident the economy will grow much more than its official 1.4 per cent forecast this year and economy minister Rainer Bruederle used good retail sales data to liken Germany's economy to its strong World Cup soccer performance.
"Germany is back - not just in sports, but also in terms of the economy," Mr Bruederle told parliament.
Analysts say that with the coalition short of alternatives and the opposition still weak, Ms Merkel was unlikely to disappear soon, though she might not survive the full term until 2013.
Reuters