New cracks emerged in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government at the weekend, as ruling party leaders exchanged sharp words only days after overcoming differences to seal a face-saving health care deal.
The health care compromise, forged on Thursday after marathon talks and months of bickering between conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD), showed Merkel's coalition was capable of co-operation and eased fears it might collapse early.
But the united front does not appear to have lasted long. In newspaper interviews on Sunday, SPD leaders criticised Merkel's leadership and warned that rogue conservative state premiers were undermining her and clouding future reform prospects.
"Angela Merkel learned over the past weeks that she has a tough path ahead of her in getting the state premiers in line," SPD parliamentary leader Peter Struck told Welt am Sonntag.
He accused state leaders of putting their own regional interests before those of the country and predicted they would cause more problems as the coalition attacks its next big projects - corporate tax and labour market reform.
Struck's comments provoked an unusually sharp rebuke from Merkel, who has found herself caught between the SPD and state premiers whom she outmanoeuvred to become chancellor but whose support she now desperately needs.
"I've seen enough of these continuous attacks by Mr. Struck on the conservative state premiers," Merkel told Bild am Sonntag "We conservatives are proud to be strong in the states, as opposed to the SPD."
Conservatives run 11 of Germany's 16 states, giving them key power to veto laws in the Bundesrat upper house of parliament.
Regional leaders Edmund Stoiber in Bavaria, Christian Wulff in Lower Saxony and Roland Koch in Hesse all face elections in 2008 and are reluctant to be associated with unpopular reforms.
The health measures, which are to go into effect from April 2007, have been criticised for failing to deal with core problems in the 140 billion euro ($178 billion) health system.
Merkel, a protestant from the former communist east who rose to the top of a male-dominated Catholic party, has struggled to appear strong as she juggles the competing interests of the regional premiers against those of the SPD, with whom she was forced to govern after a narrow election win one year ago.
PROBLEMS IN CONSERVATIVE RANKS:
A new poll on Sunday showed that only 27 percent of Germans believe she has the full support of her conservatives.
Another survey last week put support for her conservative alliance sinking to 30 percent against 33 percent for the SPD - a dramatic reversal of fortunes for Merkel and her party.
SPD chairman Kurt Beck seized on the poll numbers on Sunday, saying they pointed to deep problems in the conservative ranks.
"We are seeing now that many in the conservative camp were simply not ready to govern," Beck told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. "They are navigating through rough waters and it is pulling their inexperienced team apart."
Merkel now faces the daunting task of pushing a health care bill through parliament that many believe is deeply flawed, while shifting her attention to Germany's looming presidencies of the European Union and Group of Eight (G8) in 2007.
At the same time, a new battle is looming over labour market reform. In a position paper obtained by Reuters at the weekend, conservatives are vowing to pursue tougher policies against Germans on jobless benefits who refuse new work. SPD leaders were quick to reject any such changes.
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