With the fury of the local government elections finally behind us, the true politics of coalition negotiation is under way. We are in a situation impossible to predict. The negotiating parties will want, and in some cases demand, different things. The stakes are incredibly high. Make a mistake, and a possibly once in a lifetime opportunity disappears. Jump too soon, and your party’s bid for relevance and a place in power could be gone forever. Worse, get into bed too soon, and it could backfire, and allow you a lifetime of leisure in which to repent. But, if we can determine the long-term aims of the main parties, we may be able to determine what will happen next. Or provide enough material for the critics of the critics (that would be us, who speculate on politics for a living). By STEPHEN GROOTES.
Read more