Germany's coalition government, which collapsed in dramatic fashion on Wednesday after almost three years in power, was always an odd throuple. A pact between three parties with three quite different histories and different priorities, it was made up of two outfits that traditionally located themselves on the left – the Social Democratic party (SPD) and the Greens – and one, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), that had until then been a loyal junior partner to the conservatives.
Their instincts seemed to be contradictory: expanding the state but also shrinking it back, unleashing business but also reining it in, wanting to break things but also guaranteeing that no one gets cut by the shards.
The coalition's nickname – Ampel, or "traffic light", after the parties' colours – signalled confusion: if the red, yellow and green lights are on at the same time, do you stop, wait or go?
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