FDP Wants Coalition with CDU in 2006

Germany's neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) will most likely enter the 2006 general elections with a promise to form a coalition with the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) should both parties get enough votes to form the government, FDP leader Guido Westerwelle told German public broadcaster ARD on Friday. "From today's perspective, SPD and Greens are not an alternative," Westerwelle said. FDP leaders had rejected a clear coalition offer before the 2002 elections. According to recent polls, CDU and FDP would get a majority if elections were to take place right now.