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Just when things seemed to be going so well, talks on forming a coalition government in Germany hit a major snag. Or did they? On Monday, Social Democratic Party (spd) leader Franz Müntefering stepped down over differences with the left wing of his own team. Then Edmund Stoiber, the silver-haired leader of the Christian Democratic Union's (cdu) sister party, the Christian Social Union, also quit, claiming he could not work with anyone but his close friend Müntefering. Angela Merkel's attempt to stitch together a government as Germany's first female Chancellor was thrown into doubt. are you politicians crazy? ran a headline in Bild, a conservative tabloid. "Jobs at long last," joked the Tageszeitung, a left-wing daily, noting the new vacancies at the top.

But these high-profile departures may not be all bad news. Müntefering's replacement is Brandenburg governor Matthias Platzeck, who's reputed to have a more pragmatic, less authoritarian style than his predecessor. That could prove useful in the delicate task of persuading the spd's left wing, led by a vigorous younger generation, to work in tandem with the Christian Democratic right. "This will commit the party to the grand coalition more than before," says Gerd Langguth, a political scientist at Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University in Bonn. Stoiber's exit, meanwhile, removes a powerful potential rival from Merkel's Cabinet.

So predictions of the grand coalition's demise are premature, says Bernhard Wessel, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. He calls Müntefering's departure a "beneficial shock" that will resolve tensions between the party's old guard and its younger, more radical members. "The chances for a successful coalition have increased," he says. As for Merkel, she "will face less interference in Cabinet. This doesn't look so bad for her at all." With talks scheduled to wrap up this week, the shake-up may have come just in time.

• ANDREW PURVIS
• Coalition wobbles through Angela Merkel's groundbreaking chancellorship plans into doubt