The Union and the Greens have completed their first exploratory talks in Berlin about the possible formation of a Jamaica coalition and will then appear before the press. Before the talks, Greens federal manager Michael Kellner had pointed out “big differences” in social politics, in social issues, in migration and in climate protection on RTL / ntv. The Green politician Jürgen Trittin made a similar statement on Deutschlandfunk.
The Union’s deliberations with the Greens are the conclusion of a first exploratory round in which first the Liberals and the Greens, then the SPD, each with the Greens and FDP, and finally the CDU / CSU spoke with the Liberals. In the course of the week a decision is to be made on how to proceed on the way to form a government. According to surveys, the majority of citizens want a traffic light coalition made up of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. The Greens underline the closeness to the SPD, the FDP, on the other hand, that it agrees with the Union in terms of content.
Wüst is to be Laschet’s successor in North Rhine-Westphalia
Armin Laschet regulates his legacy, at least in North Rhine-Westphalia: The previous NRW Transport Minister Hendrik Wüst, 46, is to become the new Prime Minister of the Rhine and Ruhr regions. The found out Southgerman newspaper from circles of the state CDU. Wüst is considered to be economically liberal and more conservative than Laschet, and so far he has not been one of the closest confidants of the candidate for the Union Chancellor.
Last week, on the day after his defeat in the Bundestag election, Laschet asked his NRW party friends to think about a week in order to arrange his successor as “amicably” as possible. According to unanimous statements from CDU politicians, Laschet wants to recommend to the board of the state party and the CDU state parliamentary faction in the late afternoon that Wüst should take on three important tasks: In addition to the office of the new head of government, the Münsterländer should also be at the state party conference on October 23 in Bielefeld be elected as head of the state party and the top candidate for the state elections in May 2022. (05.10.2021)
“That stands out, dear Union – and it’s annoying”
FDP party vice president Johannes Vogel has accused the Union of breaching the agreed confidentiality after the talks about forming a government. “Last weekend there were three exploratory talks in which I also took part for the FDP. From two of them you read nothing and hear nothing. Vogel wrote on Twitter on Monday. “That stands out, dear Union – and it’s annoying!”
Sandra Weeser, member of the Bundestag, member of the FDP federal executive committee, became more plastic on Twitter. There she posted a picture of the exploratory talks and provided almost all of them with the word “silence”. Only for the exploration of yellow and black is information to the image got. “How should trust for a collaboration develop? #CDU,” she wrote. The FDP had repeatedly affirmed that mistakes such as the failed negotiations on a Jamaica coalition in 2017 should be prevented this time.
Even with the Greens, there are worries ahead of the talks with the Union that they could breach the confidentiality agreement. “That you can then communicate via the imageNewspaper, does not throw a good light on the conditions in the Union, “said the federal executive director of the Greens, Michael Kellner, who belongs to the ten-member exploratory team of the Greens. It was” noticeable “that from the only exploratory meeting of the Union – the one with the FDP on Sunday – something became known: “That really irritated us.” (04.10.2021)
FDP draws red lines for a coalition
In the event of government participation, the FDP insists on its election promise that the debt brake will not be touched and that there will be no tax increases. “The FDP has said that clearly, and the FDP is not moving away from this position either,” said General Secretary Volker Wissing in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin” https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/. “That was a clear statement . “
We know that tax policy is always a major hurdle for coalitions, and everyone knew that before the election. This was the case in the past with the CDU, and it is now particularly so with the SPD. The party programs are clearly different and the liberals are closer to the CDU and CSU in terms of content, said Wissing. “But the Union’s willingness to implement tax reforms in the past was also manageable.”
The FDP finance politician Otto Fricke also said on RTL / ntv: “There are two red lines: no changes to the debt brake in the constitution and no tax increases.” SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil, however, spoke out against pre-determined content. “It’s not about formulating red lines now,” he said on ZDF.
In an effort to form a government, the FDP continues to rely on coordination with the Greens. “We also have to be careful that we don’t get caught up with the Greens and the FDP in such a way that there can only be one grand coalition,” said Secretary General Wissing. “That’s why things have to be closely coordinated this time.”
When asked about how to proceed further, he said: “First of all we are waiting for the conversation that the Greens are having with the Union. We will then do our internal evaluation, we will also compare it – because the Greens and the FDP are allowed to get caught it doesn’t exist. ” If the Greens and the Union had their upcoming conversation, he was in favor “that you then draw an interim balance and make an interim decision,” said Wissing. (04.10.2021)
SPD wants early three-way talks with the FDP and the Greens
After separate explorations with the FDP and the Greens about the formation of a government, the SPD hopes for early talks in a three-way format. “The SPD is now ready for three-way talks,” said SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil after more than two hours of talks with the Greens and the FDP. He pointed out that the Union is still holding talks with the FDP on Sunday evening and with the Greens on Tuesday. After that there will be a decision. “Our wish would be for three-way talks to take place quickly,” emphasized Klingbeil.
After talking to the SPD, Greens leader Robert Habeck praised the Social Democrats’ willingness to get things moving. “We also found a willingness in the SPD and determined to actually start all over again, to spark a dynamic that can then perhaps solve the remaining problems,” he said. “Politics is always looking for intersections. We were now primarily looking for dynamics.”
It was agreed not to disclose the content of the conversation. Klingbeil named a few topics that were discussed: climate protection, digitization, modernization of the state and Europe. These had already been named after the previous conversation between the SPD and FDP. “It was really a constructive atmosphere and a very good conversation,” he said now. Green leader Annalena Baerbock spoke of trusting talks.
Even after the meeting between the Union and the FDP there are benevolent words from both sides: FDP General Secretary Volker Wissing assessed the first round of talks about a possible federal government with the Union as positive. “We had a constructive conversation and we have few cliffs in terms of content,” said Wissing in Berlin after a sounding with the negotiating team of the CDU and CSU. After a three-hour conversation with CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak and CSU General Secretary Markus Blume before the press.
Blume emphasized the substantive proximity to the Liberals: “We are very close together on the essential substantive points,” he said. “That leaves you wanting more.” Ziemiak also emphasizes the agreement with the FDP on key points and speaks of “great overlaps in terms of content”.
When asked whether he considers the Union to be capable of governing in its current state, Volker Wissing said: “We have agreed to keep the conversation confidential.” For this reason, he does not want to undertake any further evaluation of the content of the conversation. (03.10.2021)