Germany has a new government. After weeks of grueling negotiations, a grand coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats has emerged. Ms. Angela Merkel, head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) will take over as chancellor, presiding over a Cabinet in which the Social Democratic Party (SDP) actually holds more portfolios. That reflects the oddities of the election, and could spell trouble for Ms. Merkel and the country. Germany is deeply divided, which guarantees that the new government will be tentative and cautious, unwilling to adopt many of the reforms that the country needs.

In national elections held last month, Ms. Merkel's Christian Democrats narrowly bested the SDP, winning (along with its sister party, the Christian Social Union or CSU) 226 seats to 222 for the Social Democrats. In the final results, the margin between the two parties was less than 1 percent of the vote. This was a bittersweet result for the CDU, as it had been projected to win by a large margin when the election was first called, in the spring of this year. Since then, the SPD, and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder managed to close the gap between the two parties. That success reflected Mr. Schroeder's personal charisma and Ms. Merkel's wooden personality and clumsy campaigning. Germans became increasingly wary of the CDU agenda, worried that it would force them to give up many of the perks they had come to enjoy. Emboldened, Mr. Schroeder used his strong finish to press for a continuation of his term in office. He apparently hoped that he could exploit divisions in the CDU to undermine Ms. Merkel's claim to the chancellor's office. He failed. The CDU remained united and prevailed in negotiations to form the new government.

The new "Grand coalition" has Ms. Merkel at its head, making her the first woman, and the first former East German, to lead the German government. In exchange for the top post, the CDU claimed six Cabinet posts to the SDP's eight. In addition, Ms. Merkel was also reportedly obliged to drop plans to tax bonuses paid for night-shift and holiday work in order to win agreement. Other retreats from her election campaign are expected. As one commentator noted, it looks like the CDU leader heads a Social Democratic government.