Status: 02/13/2023 4:59 p.m
Who can rule with whom? After the Berlin election, CDU top candidate Wegner wants to conduct exploratory talks as quickly as possible. The Greens and SPD have stated that they would be willing to do so – but favor the continuation of the previous coalition.
The election is over, if the CDU has its way, a government should be formed quickly. CDU top candidate Kai Wegner called for speed in the talks for a possible coalition. All parties would have to take some time to let the election result sink in a bit. “Nevertheless, I believe that we must quickly form a new state government in Berlin,” said the CDU state chairman and election winner during a joint press conference with CDU leader Friedrich Merz. “We have big problems, big challenges, big crises, and they have to be dealt with now, as quickly as possible.”
In purely mathematical terms, the red-green-red state government still has a majority. Politically, however, the Senate has lost its majority, said Merz. The CDU has a clear government mandate, added Wegner. “We are clearly the strongest force. The two runners-up are almost ten percent behind us.” He will propose to the committees of his party to invite both the Greens and the SPD to sound out that evening. It is now a matter of finding compromises.
CDU wants a two-party alliance
Wegner emphasized that his goal was a stable government that would bring the city back together. “You really have to keep an eye on everyone and make a policy for all of Berlin.” The CDU state chairman deliberately relies on a two-party coalition. Compared to three-party alliances, this variant brings more stability, he said as justification. “So I think we have very good opportunities to get others on board.”
The CDU won Sunday’s re-election for the House of Representatives by a wide margin ahead of the SPD and the Greens, who, according to the preliminary results, were practically level. The CDU could form two-party alliances with the SPD of the incumbent governing mayor Franziska Giffey or the Greens. However, the currently governing red-green-red coalition would still have a majority.
“There’s a lot of rumbling in the SPD in Berlin,” Andreas König, RBB, on the election result
tagesschau24 12:00 p.m., 13.2.2023
Giffey holds on to leadership
Berlin’s governing mayor Franziska Giffey has already announced that the SPD will also negotiate with the CDU. But she added that the party wants to play a “strong, leading role” in government. In addition, there is an effective Senate made up of SPD, Greens and Left Party, she said. You will also talk to the previous coalition partners. In the end, a stable political majority must be organized.
Above all, Giffey called for political and content-related consequences from the election. A change agenda is needed in four central areas. This affects the areas of transport, housing, internal security and administration, she said after the meeting of the SPD presidium.
A division of offices between the SPD and the Greens in the top positions is out of the question for them. The office of governing mayor must be attributed to one person. “Even if it’s tight, the SPD still has a majority,” she said of the SPD’s lead of 105 votes over the Greens.
Greens want a stronger role in the Berlin coalition
The Greens accept the SPD’s claim to the mayoral office. “105 votes are 105 votes,” said the Greens’ top candidate Bettina Jarasch about the SPD’s lead in the second vote. She is a convinced democrat. “If there is an official result at the end, then so be it.”
At the same time, however, Jarasch raised demands for a corresponding readjustment within the current Senate coalition in the event of a continuation. The growing political weight of the Greens must be taken into account. “Of course we have to reorganize the alliance, also with regard to the changed balance of power,” she said. In terms of content, however, there is a good basis with the coalition agreement negotiated in 2021.
At the same time, the Greens’ top candidate emphasized that she would also have “very serious talks” with the CDU. From the point of view of the Greens, climate protection, including a turnaround in traffic, is a priority. But it is also about a “social progressiveness” that is able to “deal with the real diversity of people in a cosmopolitan city like Berlin”. In the case of the CDU, she “doesn’t see it that way yet,” she added.
FDP emphasizes role in the traffic light coalition in the federal government
The FDP suffered an electoral defeat. She flew with 4.6 percent from another state parliament. The chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Christian Dürr, spoke of a bitter result, but at the same time emphasized the importance of his party as part of the federal government. “But one thing is certain: Free Democrats will be elected for the renewal of our country.” The FDP in the Bundestag is continuing to work on this.
“With liberal projects such as generational capital or the acceleration of infrastructure projects, we are showing the role that the FDP plays as a creative force,” says Dürr. There is no better election campaign for the Free Democrats than successfully shaping it in the interests of the people. A dispute in the traffic light coalition between the FDP and the Greens has been simmering for weeks, especially on the subject of faster planning processes in traffic.
Merz: “The handwriting of the FDP is not recognizable”
CDU boss Merz, on the other hand, believes that the participation of the FDP in the traffic light coalition had negative consequences for them. She does not push through very much in the federal government. “The handwriting of the FDP is not recognizable,” said Merz. That’s why the FDP had a “rather terrible year 2022” behind it.
“I personally regret that,” said the CDU leader. He would like to see a stronger liberal party in Germany. “The FDP was once a reliable partner for us. But I don’t see it in the current constitution,” said Merz when asked about future power options for the Union in the federal government.