If Angela Merkel were British prime minister and not the German chancellor, she might well be tempted to dissolve her grand coalition government and call early elections this summer. That is what the opposition Free Democrats are calling for in Berlin, on the grounds that Ms Merkel’s ruling alliance of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats has run out of steam. The two great parties of centre-right and centre-left are increasingly locked in pre-election squabbles and unable to agree on any new policy initiatives to cope with the current economic crisis.

An early election in June – instead of September, when it is due – might just produce a more coherent and comfortable centre-right coalition between Ms Merkel’s CDU and the liberal Free Democratic party. The FDP is at a high point in the polls of around 17 per cent, and the CDU is on 33 per cent, so they could just manage a 50 per cent majority between them.

But Ms Merkel does not have the British prime minister’s luxury of being able to choose when to go to the polls. Unless she can engineer a “constructive vote of no confidence” with a two-thirds majority in the German Bundestag, she is constitutionally required to serve out her term. More than that, she clearly sees it as her duty to do so at a time of economic crisis, rather than seek a narrow electoral advantage. Indeed, doing the latter might alienate more voters than it attracts.

The full force of the economic crisis has not yet hit most of the German population, but unemployment figures are certain to rise through the summer, and the Social Democrats (SPD) have started recovering support. From a low point of 22 per cent, the party has climbed back to 27 per cent and can expect to further narrow the gap on the CDU. So Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the vice-chancellor and Ms Merkel’s principal challenger, has no reason to pull the coalition down.

Ms Merkel is much more popular than her party, and there is discontent in the ranks at her leadership style: she is a consensus-builder, not inclined to sharpen the differences with the SPD. The result has been a rash of internal squabbling and attempts to pick artificial quarrels with the Social Democrats – causing CDU support to fall faster.

Horst Köhler, state president, warned them on Tuesday that the crisis was not the time for “show fighting”. He is right. It is precisely the moment when a broad consensus is useful. The coalition has one important issue yet to resolve before elections – how to deal with toxic assets. After that, let battle commence for elections on the due date.