FDP General Secretary Volker Wissing has announced that the FDP will talk to both the Union and the SPD over the weekend about the formation of a new government. Before meeting one of the two parties, one wants to talk to the Greens again in a larger group about content-related issues, Wissing said at a press conference. The talks with the Greens should take place next Friday, the talks with the Union on Saturday, and the meeting with the SPD on Sunday. The order results from the deadline, said Wissing on.
The FDP General Secretary emphasized several times that a “trusting and confidential framework” was important for the talks. That is why it was decided not to communicate anything about the first conversation with the Greens on Tuesday evening, but only to let a picture speak. The talks are first conducted bilaterally, because “when an alliance is reached, everyone has to want to work with everyone,” Wissing added. (29.09.21)
Berlin State Returning Officer makes her office available
Petra Michaelis, the Berlin regional returning officer, draws the conclusions from the chaos on election day and makes her position available. “I take responsibility (…) for the circumstances of the election on September 26th, 2021 and ask the Senate of Berlin to recall me immediately after the meetings of the state election committee on October 11th and 14th, 2021 and to appoint a successor “wrote Michaelis in a message.
On September 26th, when the Bundestag election and the election to the House of Representatives took place in Berlin at the same time, there were problems with the voting. Long queues formed in front of the polling stations, and in some districts, false ballot papers were sometimes delivered to polling stations. (09/29/2021)
JU boss dissatisfied with the election of the CDU parliamentary group chairman
The chairman of the Junge Union, Tilman Kuban, is dissatisfied with the election of the CDU chairman Ralph Brinkhaus until April 30th. The parliamentary group elected Brinkhaus for a limited time, he told the editorial network Germany. “After the formation of a government, we will make new decisions.” At the same time, the head of the youth organization of the Union parties calls for a fundamental restructuring of the CDU. No stone should be left unturned there, said Kuban. “If you don’t renew yourself after such a result, you won’t get back on your feet.” (29.09.2021)
Mützenich confirmed as SPD parliamentary group leader
The SPD parliamentary group has confirmed its chairman Rolf Mützenich in his office with an overwhelming majority. The 62-year-old received 198 votes on Wednesday, 97 percent. Four MPs voted against the Cologne resident, two abstained. Mützenich is elected for two years, as a parliamentary group spokesman announced.
He is happy for the great trust and was “very touched by the appreciation,” said Mützenich. They agreed to elect Olaf Scholz as Chancellor as soon as possible. He pointed out that the SPD is the largest parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
His wish is that talks with the FDP and the Greens about a cooperation will start by the end of the week. “We are ready and we are reliably ready,” said the SPD parliamentary group leader. The Greens and the FDP would have to reduce mistrust because the Jamaica talks failed four years ago, he said about the first meeting of the party leaders. He wishes the FDP and the Greens the best of luck in this process of rapprochement, Mützenich continued. He is sure that afterwards you will be able to talk to each other in peace. Mützenich commented on the selfie of the four participants, FDP boss Lindner, FDP general secretary Volker Wissing and the Greens chairmen Annalena Baerbock and Robert Harbeck, which was published on Instagram by all four after the meeting: “Germany doesn’t need photos, Germany needs a government that actively accepts the challenges. “
Mützenich has been a member of the Bundestag for the SPD since 2002 and has long been its foreign policy spokesman and deputy chairman for foreign affairs and security. He has led the parliamentary group for more than two years. After the surprising resignation of Andrea Nahles as parliamentary group and party leader, he initially took over the chairmanship as the longest-serving deputy, in September 2019 he was elected with 97.7 percent.
On Tuesday evening, Mützenich had made it clear at an SPD event that the parliamentary group was unanimously behind Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz. Mützenich announced that the 206 MPs would elect him to the position of Federal Chancellor after successful coalition negotiations. “That is our promise.”
The new SPD parliamentary group has 206 members – the SPD won 53 more seats than in the federal election four years ago. 104 of the MPs are newly elected. Scholz himself had made it clear on Monday that Mützenich should remain leader of the parliamentary group. Scholz said that he was a “good man”. “We’ll need that then.” He, too, cast his vote as a new member of the Bundestag and thus returned to the SPD parliamentary group. (29.09.21)
“Exciting times” and a selfie
Surprisingly, the leaders of the Greens and FDP already held preliminary talks on Tuesday about joint government participation. The Greens chairmen Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck met with FDP leader Christian Lindner and General Secretary Volker Wissing. All four posted a photo of the quartet on Instagram and wrote: “In search of a new government, we sound out commonalities and bridges across divisions. And even find some. Exciting times.”
After the federal election, the Greens and Liberals could enter into a traffic light coalition with the SPD as well as an alliance with the Union. However, the SPD won the election on Sunday with Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz. The declared goal of the Greens and the FDP is to agree on the basic lines of political cooperation, which should serve as a prerequisite for a “restart” of government policy in Germany. Only later do both want to speak to the party of a possible chancellor.
On Tuesday evening, Scholz once again strongly promoted a traffic light. “Something fits together if you want to bring that together,” said the previous Vice Chancellor at an event of the parliamentary left in the SPD parliamentary group in Berlin. “It can be a government where three parties come together with different but overlapping ideas for progress.” SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich said: “The country does not belong to a CDU / CSU.” The country belongs to the citizens who voted for Scholz. (29.09.2021)
SPD chairman Walter-Borjans wants a short coalition agreement and shows willingness to compromise
SPD leader Norbert Walter-Borjans wants a compact coalition agreement with the FDP and the Greens. “For a coalition agreement, I would use the motto: less is more,” Walter-Borjans told the newspaper Rheinische Post (Wednesday edition). Not all details have to be declined. In the traffic light explorations that are now beginning, a clear focus is important. “We shouldn’t probe for a long time. Our aim is for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to give the upcoming New Year’s address on television.” A new grand coalition is unthinkable for him. “I see no basis for this. The CDU and CSU belong in the opposition.”
Walter-Borjans is also signaling to the FDP that he is willing to compromise when it comes to the debt brake. The SPD leader takes in the Rheinische Post Distance from a reform: “Everyone knows that this would require a two-thirds majority in Parliament and the Federal Council.” It would not work without the cooperation of the CDU and CSU. “Why should we fight with the Greens in talks with the FDP when a necessary fourth partner – namely CDU and CSU – is not available for something like that?” It is important that the current debt rule does not become a brake on investment.
Due to the corona pandemic, the federal and state government’s budget discipline requirements anchored in the Basic Law are currently suspended. Before the election, finance minister and SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz said that the debt brake should apply again from 2023. The FDP also wants to comply with the debt brake as soon as possible. During the election campaign, the Greens announced that they wanted to reform the debt brake in order to enable public investment of an additional 50 billion euros per year. That is why they want to add an investment target to the debt brake. (29.09.21)
Poll: 68 percent for Laschet’s resignation from all offices
A clear majority of people in Germany would welcome the resignation of Union Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet from all of his political offices. According to this, 68 percent are in favor, as shown in a YouGov poll published on Wednesday. 13 percent reject this.
Brinkhaus: Laschet will “definitely not” be the leader of the opposition
The re-elected Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus assumes that the CDU chairman will not replace him if the Union ends up in the opposition. “Armin Laschet will certainly not run for chairman of the parliamentary group if we go into the opposition,” said Brinkhaus on Tuesday evening in the ARD “Tagesthemen”. In this respect he is “not a placeholder and I don’t feel that way either”.
Brinkhaus was re-elected in the evening with 85 percent of the votes in the Union parliamentary group – but only until the end of April and not, as usual, for a year. Instead, Laschet will take care of the party if the Union does not rule, said Brinkhaus. “As a party chairman, you’re pretty busy.”
Should the Union actually have to go into the opposition after its election defeat, the parliamentary group chairmanship would be the most important post that would remain. Brinkhaus said in the “Tagesthemen” that the CDU and CSU agree that the Greens and FDP now want to offer talks on a Jamaica coalition. It is clear that the Union cannot make any claims after the defeat against the SPD. But a Jamaica coalition is another possible option alongside the traffic lights made up of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. (09/29/2021)
Green youth would “not participate” in Jamaica coalition
The Green Youth has called on the party leadership to clearly reject a coalition with the Union. “The Green Youth would not participate in a Jamaica coalition with the Union,” said the national spokesman for the youth organization, Georg Kurz New Osnabrück Newspaper. “Under no circumstances can we heave the party that was explicitly voted out of office back into the Chancellery.” The Union has proven for 16 years that it has not been able to change anything for the better, said the 27-year-old.
In the end, it was clear to all Greens which parties had won the Bundestag election and with whom there was the most overlap, “namely with the SPD and not with the Union”. Kurz also set conditions for a traffic light coalition with the SPD and FDP: “We were elected for consistent climate protection and the fair distribution of wealth, for an improvement in the reality of life for a majority of the population and not for a few rich people. We have to enforce that, otherwise we can not be there. ” (09/29/2021)