Merkel unlikely to soften austerity policy after vote

Chancellor Angela Merkel looked on track to win a third term in this weekend’s election in Germany but faced a battle to preserve her centre-right majority and avert a potentially divisive coalition with her arch rivals, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).

Tomorrow’s vote is being watched across Europe, with many of Berlin’s partners hoping it will bring about a softening of the austerity-first approach Merkel has promoted since the eurozone debt crisis broke out nearly four years ago.

But the prospect of major shifts in her euro policy are slim, even if she is forced into a “grand coalition” with the SPD, whose candidate Peer Steinbrueck has criticised the chancellor for choking off growth in southern members of the currency bloc by insisting on spending cuts and painful reforms.