While Japanese voters have been focused on the campaign at home, German voters have been engrossed in an election battle every bit as intense and with stakes as great. Since the election was called in May, the outcome looked clear: The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), along with its partner, the Free Democratic Party, would win a majority. Yet, ahead of Sunday's poll, the gap has closed, and now it looks as though Germany may be forced to embrace a "grand coalition" of the CDU and its rival, the governing Social Democratic Party (SPD).
While some applaud such super-majorities, the marriage of convenience may not be in Germany's best interests: Grand coalitions can create paralysis and "muddling through" in the absence of a real mandate for either party.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder took office in 1998 after the SPD defeated a CDU then led by Mr. Helmut Kohl, who was fatigued by a long term in office and seemingly ill-equipped to deal with the challenges faced by a newly reunified Germany in a post-Cold War world. Mr. Schroeder was seen as a new liberal, like then U.S. President Bill Clinton or British Prime Minister Tony Blair.