In Germany, for decades, governments have succeeded one another and coalitions have multiplied.

Three days before the second round of legislative elections, is a coalition possible to block the National Rally? Unprecedented in France under the V^e Republic, this mode of governance is the rule in our German neighbor. Since the end of the Second World War, governments – with one exception – have always brought together parties of different sensibilities. And overall, it does not work so badly.

After every legislative election, the scenario is the same: the party that comes out on top starts looking for allies to form a majority. Germans are used to these negotiations, which often stretch over several months. But to agree on a common program, dialogue and compromise are necessary, insists Sandra Weeser, a member of parliament for the liberal FDP party, one of the three partners in Olaf Scholz’s coalition: “We can’t each do our own program 100%. We have to talk a lot, we have to be ready to make concessions. If I didn’t accept that, I wouldn’t be ready for a coalition.”

Conservatives with liberals, right with left, almost any alliance is possible. These coalitions that require sharing power reduce divisions, observes Claire Demesmay, political scientist and researcher at the Marc Bloch Center in Berlin: “We are much less in the confrontation with very narrow separations between the parties. There is much more dialogue, we are there to cooperate for several years. Obviously they do not become friends, they all have their own identity. It is complicated on a daily basis. We must also be able to maintain these tensions without exposing them too much in the public sphere. So it is an exercise that is not necessarily easy.” It is therefore not easy to transpose the German model to France. Making compromises is an art that is sometimes very difficult to master.