If they stall, the coalition could yet fizzle out in failure.
Some Tory exasperation with the civil service is really frustration at being in coalition, suggests a senior Blairite.
Already some in her coalition grumble that she has lost her knack of winning elections. But she will surely survive as chancellor.
IRAQ's politicians were poised, as the Economist went to press, to take their biggest step, since an inconclusive election eight months ago, towards finally getting a new coalition government.
It was the price of coalition.
The Greens themselves might balk, perhaps preferring a “Jamaica” coalition with the CDU and FDP instead.
The coalition Mr Obama marshalled in 2008 around the alluring but ambiguous banner of "change" will splinter.
NATO chief Rasmussen also said the start of any withdrawal should not be been seen as the international coalition abandoning the country.
For all these reasons, if this newspaper had a vote in Germany’s election, it would cast it for the FDP, in the hope that it joins a coalition with Ms Merkel’s CDU.
The other coalition parties and the opposition roared their disapproval.
Their own probity is unquestioned. But their record is tainted, not least by the antics of two coalition allies.
A champion of "freedom" over "security", he is philosophically closer to Mrs Merkel's "Christian-liberal coalition" than to the left-leaning parties that nominated him.
One represented "Impact", or the ability to affect coalition policy.
strong support for his party on Tuesday would mean he would be influential in the new coalition that forms.
All this means that America can sensibly aim for a balance between spending cuts and higher taxes similar to the benchmark set by Britain's coalition government. A ratio of 75:25 is about right.
Some suggest that the new coalition represents a realignment of politics towards the centre-right.
But no coalition soldier is at risk.
The new government will be a coalition of four centre-right parties, probably led by Iveta Radicova, a former sociology professor.
Olmert plans to stay on as caretaker of the negotiations while Livni works to set up a governing coalition.
Or has the NHS row confirmed a deeper Tory hunch: that just as leopards have spots, Lib Dems are perfidious and sneaky, making the coalition an obstacle to bold policymaking?
The coalition government sees this as a way of devolving power and strengthening localism.
Mr Cameron put aside some of this conservatism for the sake of the coalition.
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