German commentators are rarely a cheery bunch, and today's papers are no exception. While a lot of editorialists bemoan Schroeder's performance over the last eight years, not many of them are all that excited about his successor come elections in the fall.

The fact that the opposition Christian Democrat / Liberal parties have been reticent about what they would actually do differently once in power, hasn't gone down terribly well. And most papers recognize that the success of any future government, whatever its political inclination, is most dependent on when, or rather if, the German economy gets back on its feet again.

The business daily Financial Times Deutschland, in a commentary entitled "Welcome to Reality", subverts the sardonic expression which Germans used towards the end of the second World War, by urging the country's political parties to "enjoy the war, because the peace will be terrible. Or to put it another way: enjoy the election campaign, Christian Democrats and Liberals, because being in government could be terrible."

The commentator goes on to explain that after the first few days of euphoria at the prospect of soon taking over power, the mood of the current opposition has been dampened by the realization that it's not just the chancellery furniture that the future government will inherit. They'll be left with the government's problems as well.

And the paper is skeptical about what a Christian Democrat government can actually achieve: it is scathing about the fact that these parties are now saying that the net tax burden will not actually be decreased and it doesn't believe that their financial plan really adds up. The commentator also mentions that "in addition to the problems which the Christian Democrats create for themselves, there is also the issue of fragile economic growth. In May the Ifo index, which measures business confidence in the economic climate, dropped for the fourth time in a row." A further hike in oil prices and a rise in the value of the euro would destroy any hopes of economic growth in the second half of the year, just in time for the beginning of the new period of government. "Without economic recovery," concludes the paper, "it will be impossible for any minister of finance to succeed in sorting out the state coffers. Welcome to reality, Mrs. Merkel!"

The Berliner Zeitung is equally assumptive that Angela Merkel will be confirmed as the opposition's chancellor candidate, and will become the country's next political leader. "Angela Merkel can hardly believe her luck. Chancellor Schroeder has placed her in a very comfortable position.... A Christian Democrat win is almost unavoidable: they are leading in polls and Gerhard Schroeder has all but stepped down. His party has admitted that it has no idea how it can combat low economic growth and high unemployment."

Yet the commentator remains unconvinced about the opposition parties' proposals on matters of taxation, health and pension provision. "The Christian Democratic parties have no cohesive, conclusive or properly thought out solutions to these problems." The paper believes that answers to these questions must not only be provided, but done so soon. "A chancellor Merkel will have two years in which to realize her reform program. In 2008 there will be elections in Hessen, Lower Saxony and Hamburg. Her comfortable majority could easily be lost." And actually pushing through reforms, the paper continues, will not necessarily be any easier for Merkel than it has been for Schroeder.

The paper concludes by saying that although Merkel has enough self-confidence and experience to become chancellor she will have to learn to make decisions more quickly. "But she must also hope that the economy starts growing as soon as possible. She will receive no more help from the SPD."

The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung, on the other hand, focuses on the effect that a Merkel government would have on foreign aid policy. It applauds that a Christian Democrat coalition government would increase development aid to 0.7 percent of its economic output.

However the commentator doubts that a center-right leadership make other changes to benefit developing nations. "It is hard to imagine that a right-wing minister would enthusiastically fight for the reduction of EU agricultural subsidies and the opening up of European markets to developing nations. The Christian Democrats don't even know where this 0.7 percent is supposed to come from."