The party has also given notice that the issue will be a major topic in the local elections in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Wuerttemberg later this month.
If they lose the March 26th election in Rhineland-Palatinate, the only big state that still has a Social Democratic premier, both parties may start to have second thoughts about the grand coalition: the Social Democrats because they are losing votes, the Christian Democrats because they may be tempted to call a new federal election.