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Why did Angela Merkel need a new coalition partner after Germany’s 2013 election?

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“Queen of Europe” — Angela Merkel Angela Merkel, the first woman to serve as chancellor of Germany, 2012.

In the September 2013 federal election, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian affiliate, the Christian Social Union (CSU), achieved a significant victory, capturing nearly 42 percent of the vote. Despite this strong performance, the alliance fell just short of an absolute majority in the Bundestag.12

Angela Merkel needed a new coalition partner because her previous governing partner, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), failed to reach the 5 percent threshold required for parliamentary representation. This historic defeat left the CDU-CSU without its preferred partner, forcing Merkel to negotiate with either the Social Democratic Party (SPD) or the Green Party. After more than two months of negotiations, Merkel ultimately secured an agreement to form a grand coalition government with the SPD.123