GERMANY'S SOCIAL Democrat leaders are breathing a sigh of relief after an inner-party squabble torpedoed a planned pact with the post-communist Left Party.
Fresh elections in the important western state of Hesse, home to Germany's financial capital of Frankfurt, are the most likely outcome of an 11th hour rebellion by four Social Democrat politicians. They refused to support a vote, scheduled for today, to elect a Social Democrat-led minority government with the support of the Left Party.
With no proper government for most of this year, it is unclear whether a return to the polls in Hesse would break the political stalemate after January's vote.
What is certain is that the regional political drama in Hesse will now spill over into next year's general election campaign - with unpredictable consequences for the Social Democrats.
Voters in Hesse deserted the ruling Christian Democrats in droves last January, but left the alternative Social Democrat-Green coalition just short of a majority in the state parliament in Wiesbaden. Breaking her pre-election promise, Social Democrat state leader Andrea Ypsilanti decided to try unseating Christian Democrat state premier Roland Koch with a minority government reliant on Left Party support.
Her decision divided the Social Democrats in Hesse and around the country, primarily because of the Left Party's East German communist roots and the new party's leader, Oskar Lafontaine.
A former Social Democrat leader, Mr Lafontaine has openly vowed to discredit the party he abandoned in 1999 after helping Gerhard Schröder to power a year earlier.
Social Democrat leaders in Berlin watched in dismay at Ms Ypsilanti's plan to take office in Hesse at Mr Lafontaine's discretion. As the plan became more concrete in recent weeks, they struggled to hold their tongues over a strategy they feared would damage the party's credibility in next year's general election.
The collapse of the regional co-operation frees the Social Democrats, back under control of Schröder loyalists, to launch an all-out attack on Mr Lafontaine and the Left Party in next year's general election. "What happened in Hesse is really the limit, but the important thing is to restore credibility in the party," said Franz Müntefering, the newly re-elected Social Democrat leader and a close ally of Mr Schröder.
The Social Democrat drama in Hesse could have aftershocks around the country, and may even trigger a fresh round in the inner-party struggle between its centrist and left wings.
"That Mr Müntefering publicly crossed his fingers for Ms Ypsilanti was understandable for party strategy reasons," said political scientist Gerd Langguth, "but there were no Social Democrat politicians at federal level who understood her decision."
Leading left-wingers in the party, already chastened by their shrinking influence since Mr Müntefering's return last month, have expressed frustration at the outcome in Hesse. Berlin's left-wing Social Democrat mayor Klaus Wowereit, who shares power in the German capital with the Left Party and supported the Hesse plan, said the rebellion was "disgraceful and unfair".