It hardly sounded like the next act in Germany's election-year political farce. On Monday, the leadership of the Social Democrats (SPD) -- the party that is still effectively running the country in the form of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder -- gathered together to nominate a candidate for the position of secretary general. The candidate would then be officially elected during the party convention scheduled for Nov. 14 - 16. SPD leader Franz Müntefering had let everybody know who he wanted in the position, but at the end of the day, the party chose somebody else. No big deal, right?

Wrong. The result of the vote -- which saw the outspoken party leftist Andrea Nahles beat out Müntefering's hand-picked candidate and confidant Kajo Wasserhövel by a count of 23 to 14 -- is nothing short of a catastrophe for the Social Democrats. Müntefering, who is currently leading the party's negotiations with Christian Democrat leader and chancellor-in-waiting Angela Merkel in the hopes of coming up with a stable governing coalition, abruptly announced that he does not intend to stand for re-election as party head   in the coming convention. In a word, he resigned. In the space of six weeks since the Sept. 18 general elections, the SPD has lost two powerful leaders -- Schröder and Müntefering. The party has nobody waiting in the wings to take over.

Crisis for Merkel

But that's not all. Müntefering's resignation has quickly turned into a crisis for Merkel's entire government-in-waiting as he left his participation in the cabinet as vice chancellor and labor minister open. And on Tuesday, the powerful governor of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber -- who was tapped to take over the Economy Ministry -- has, in the wake of Müntefering's announcement, reportedly decided to stay in Munich after all. The so-called grand coalition is suddenly looking decidedly less grand and indeed very wobbly.

"Under the current conditions," Müntefering told reporters after his decision, "I can no longer be party chairman. The vote was too unequivocal and clear-cut. I had planned in the next four or five years to help the party become rejuvenated and younger in certain areas. Now, that seems to be taking place a bit faster. That doesn't have to be a bad thing."

Easy for him to say. The party, say many, is the deepest crisis faced by the Social Democrats since World War II. Part of that problem has to do with there being very few who could realistically fill Müntefering's shoes. Kurt Beck, SPD premier in Rhineland-Palatinate, and his counterpart in the eastern state of Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck, have both been mentioned as potential replacements. But neither one is represented in Merkel's cabinet nor are they considered as being in the same league as political players such as Schröder and Müntefering.

The preliminary selection of 35-year-old Nahles as party secretary general has also exposed a deep rift within a party that is being torn in two opposing political directions. With Schröder as chancellor, the party has spent the last seven years introducing reform after reform to the German social welfare system, but the party rank and file were never particularly happy about it. Even if the SPD backed off from their reform fervor during the campaign, Müntefering was seen as someone who would continue on the politically centrist course struck by Schröder.

Where is the SPD headed?

Others were also unhappy with the reforms. Germany's trade unions, traditionally SPD supporters, were vocally critical of Schröder and the party has lost tens of thousands of members in recent years. Andrea Nahles elected to stay with the SPD, but has been forceful in her disapproval of the Schröder reform path. In other words, picking her as secretary general is a clear shift to the left for the party.

After the vote on Monday and its aftermath, the party has been shocked at the outcome. Prominent party leftist Ottmar Schreiner described himself as "crestfallen" and another party honcho, Joachim Poss said he "couldn't comprehend the naiveté of the Social Democrat leadership." Others mentioned they weren't trying to actually topple Müntefering but merely indicate their displeasure at the autocratic methods with which he leads the party.
Damage control became the name of the game on Tuesday with Nahles herself saying she was considering withdrawing her candidacy for the secretary general position. Barbara Hendricks, a member of the SPD leadership committee, said on Tuesday there was no way Nahles could now be elected to the position. Others have started a public campaign to get Müntefering to change his mind.

But the damage has likely been done. Merkel now has the shards of a carefully crafted cabinet  to sweep up. In all likelihood, the next SPD head will not be one of the SPD members currently part of Merkel's coalition cabinet-in-waiting, meaning room will likely have to be found for whoever takes over from Müntefering. Somebody please cue the music as soon as the jockeying for a cabinet seat begins again.

Most damaging to Merkel, however, could be the departure of Edmund Stoiber. Already he has spent weeks stepping on his colleagues toes while trying to pick and choose the best competencies from other ministries to add to the Economy Ministry he had agreed to head up. Indeed, his hunger for parts of the education and research ministry, to be headed by CDU politician Annette Schavan, had already made for some uncomfortable headlines as Schavan tried to keep her ministry intact.

Grand coalition in doubt

Now, though, he has decided to return to his position as the premier of Bavaria -- the clear implication being that he doesn't think the grand coalition can successfully govern Germany for its full four-year term without Franz Müntefering as one of its pillars. And that implication is probably the worst news for Merkel out of this mess.
 
What happens next is anyone's guess. It seems clear, though, that Merkel's government is in danger of becoming paralyzed before it even takes office. One of the main goals of a Merkel-led coalition between the CDU and SPD would be to balance Germany's budget. Rumors of higher taxes and slashing subsidies have been making the rounds.