The SPD, the Greens and the FDP now want to hold exploratory talks about traffic lights. This was announced by the heads of all three parties at press conferences. There should be a first round of three already tomorrow, Thursday. The SPD announced that the conversation was scheduled to take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the City Cube at the Berlin trade fair.
“It starts tomorrow,” said SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz. He welcomed the fact that there were now exploratory talks; his party had invited the Greens and the FDP to do this last week. At the same time, Scholz praised the “professional manner” with which the two possible partners had conducted these discussions so far.
The liberals would only join a government in the center, “which strengthens the value of freedom and which provides a real impetus for the renewal of our country,” said FDP leader Christian Lindner. “We are guided by where we can implement the most liberal policies.” A Jamaica coalition with the Union and the Greens is not yet off the table, said Lindner. “We have the greatest overlap in terms of content with the Union.” A Jamaica coalition therefore remains an “option that is viable in terms of content,” said Lindner. “However, the will to govern and the unity of the Union parties are being discussed in public.” There are no parallel talks to the traffic light explorations with the SPD and the Greens.
Shortly before, the Greens chairmen Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck had publicly proposed to the FDP that they enter into three-way talks with the SPD. The country is facing great challenges and cannot afford a long hangover. The previous explorations have shown that the FDP and SPD have the greatest possible overlap in terms of content, especially in the area of social policy, said Habeck. “Conceivable, however, expressly means that the biscuit is a long way from being eaten.” There are still significant differences, both with the FDP and the SPD. Many things have not yet been discussed.
The intention to negotiate with the FDP and SPD is not yet a “complete rejection” of a Jamaica coalition with the Union, said Habeck. The Union really made an effort and went a long way towards meeting the Greens, for example in terms of climate protection. There were differences in social policy and in European integration.
The SPD, Greens and FDP did not name a specific time frame for explorations. But explorations do not have to be sophisticated coalition negotiations, said Habeck. In the end, the parties have to make a political decision as to whether or not to continue. Previous alliances at the state level have shown that explorations with a single-digit number of meetings could succeed. (06.10.2021)
Söder: The traffic light is now the clear number one
The CSU chairman Markus Söder says he recognizes “the de facto rejection of Jamaica by the Greens and the FDP”. Now you finally have clarity. “We expressly regret this decision,” said the Bavarian Prime Minister. Jamaica would have been a good chance to modernize the country.
Even if the CSU accepts the decision of the Liberals and Greens, they will continue to be ready to talk. The Union will not remain in a permanent position and will not serve as a means of pressure for the FDP and the Greens. The two parties could not refer to talks with the Union to get what they wanted from the SPD. That prohibits the “self-respect and dignity of the Union”. According to Söder, it would have been fair if the FDP and the Greens had negotiated once together with both the SPD and the Union.
One has to “acknowledge the realities” and admit to oneself that in the coming years other ways are possible to be part of the government. Probably there will be no government participation for the Union, so Söder further. He is curious to see whether a traffic light coalition can work and also whether the hopes that the population has placed in the traffic light will be fulfilled.
CDU boss Armin Laschet, on the other hand, only made a brief statement. “We respect that there are now joint talks between the FDP, the Greens and the SPD,” said the Union’s candidate for chancellor. “We have signaled: We are also ready for further talks. But the decision of who to talk to and in which order rests with the FDP and the Greens.”
That there is still the possibility of a Jamaica coalition – leading CDU politicians did not want to know anything on Wednesday. “The traffic light train has just left the station,” tweeted Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU). For the first time in 41 years, the FDP and SPD (and the Greens) are seriously talking about a coalition. “CDU / CSU are observers. We now have to do our homework and show that we have understood the lesson of September 26th.”
According to the deputy CDU chairwoman Julia Klöckner, her party is now facing far-reaching upheaval. “After 16 years of governance, we are facing a turning point. As hard as it is, we must now see this situation as an opportunity,” she said Rheinische Post. When exploring a possible traffic light coalition, the greatest challenge facing the FDP is to position itself between two factions of the SPD and the Greens that have moved to the left. (06.10.2021)
Laschet: Opposites can be overcome with the green
After the explorations between the Union and the Greens, the party leaders Armin Laschet (CDU), Markus Söder (CSU), Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck commented on the talks on Wednesday evening. With a view to a possible Jamaica coalition with the Greens and the FDP, Laschet said that he believed that such an alliance would have “a breadth in society” that would make it possible to modernize and advance the country. The Union is ready to support this basic idea. He spoke of a good exchange, which was also linked to the coalition negotiations in 2017. Contrasts have also become clear. But it is “not so that opposites cannot be overcome”. This would have to be deepened, it would be worthwhile.
Baerbock said the talks were marked by “seriousness”. There are differences, especially in socio-political areas. But there are also common concerns, such as digitization and ecological transformation. There has to be a “real departure in the country”. Söder said that he found the conversation “just as or even more exciting” than with the FDP, “because it is also a lot of brain teaser for everyone involved to further develop the future”. The Union is interested in continuing to talk. Some similarities have been found in the climate, differences for example in migration policy.
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.
Habeck announced that the Greens and FDP would now evaluate the exploratory talks in their respective internal party committees. It is unclear when there will be new talks between the FDP and the Greens. Everything else will be announced in due course, said Baerbock. The federal board of the FDP wants to discuss the further course this Wednesday morning.
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. (05.10.2021)
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 Union Chancellor candidate.
Last week, the day after his defeat in the federal election, Laschet asked his NRW party friends to think about a week in order to arrange his successor as “amicably” as possible. According to the unanimous statements of 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 to be elected as head of the state party and the top candidate for the state elections in May 2022. (05.10.2021)