Far-Right Growth

Guido Westerwelle, head of Germany's Free Democrat opposition party, has said Chancellor Angela Merkel and the "grand coalition" government is contributing to political apathy and driving voters into the arms of far-right politicians.

In an interview with Reuters news service, Westerwelle harshly criticized Angela Merkel's performance after her first year in office.

During the last national elections in Germany, Westerwelle's party was on track to form a coalition government with Merkel's Christian Democrats. But her small election margin meant she was forced into a difficult partnership with the left-wing Social Democrats instead.

'Adding to political apathy'

Now, Westerwelle is one of the loudest critics of the current administration, which he blames for failing to bring about a real economic recovery in Germany.

"The worrying thing about this so-called grand coalition is that it's contributing to a shocking degree of political apathy," the 44-year-old politician told Reuters on Wednesday.

"We cannot allow this grand coalition to lead to the same end as the last one in 1969, when the far-right NPD nearly made it into the federal parliament."

The National Democratic Party (NPD) came close to reaching the 5 percent threshold needed to enter the Bundestag in 1969, when Germany's only other post-war "grand coalition" was voted out of office after three difficult years.

NPD compared to Nazis

The NPD is often compared with Hitler's early Nazi party. It is especially strong in the depressed eastern part of the country. In September, it took 7.3 percent of the vote in Merkel's home base of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Disillusionment with her coalition was seen as a key reason for the NPD's gains.

In the interview, Westerwelle attacked Merkel's government for pushing through the biggest tax hike in post-war German history, for failing to reduce non-wage labor costs and for creating more bureaucracy -- all moves he said ran counter to the campaign pledges of the governing parties.