House of Representatives
Berlin SPD and Greens: Beginning of coalition negotiations
Franziska Giffey, state chairwoman of the Berlin SPD, speaks during a joint press statement after the exploratory talks with representatives of the parties Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen and Die Linke. Photo: Monika Skolimowska / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa
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The state executive committee of the Berlin SPD decides to start coalition negotiations. The Greens join in. The third in the league – the left – do not vote until Tuesday.
The Berlin SPD has cleared the way for coalition negotiations with the Greens and the Left.
A good three weeks after the election to the Berlin House of Representatives, their state executive unanimously agreed on Monday evening to start talks with the two parties, as the SPD announced before the board meeting was over. The Greens joined a little later. At the state committee meeting on Monday evening, there was no dissenting vote and only one abstention on the decision on the coalition negotiations.
Greens state chairman Werner Graf said at the meeting: “It has been shown that this is the alliance that we can say from the bottom of our hearts that it is the best for Berlin.” The SPD, the Greens and the Left have been ruling Berlin since 2016. The Left will decide at an extraordinary party congress on Tuesday whether to continue the previous coalition. At its meeting on Monday evening, the left state executive made a recommendation to start coalition negotiations with the SPD and the Greens.
SPD state chairman Franziska Giffey said after the meeting of the state executive of her party that coalition negotiations should begin this week. Last but not least, finances should be discussed: “The official start is on Friday,” said Giffey. Then 16 specialist working groups are to be set up.
“We will decide on the schedule and will deal with the financial issue again in great detail in order to determine the framework,” said the SPD politician, who wants to become the governing mayor of Berlin. “We deliberately said that the budget, financial framework and financial feasibility must be at the beginning of these coalition negotiations.” In addition, according to Giffey, all guidelines from the joint exploratory paper should be “substantiated”.
At the end of the exploratory talks on Friday, the SPD, the Greens and the Left agreed on 19 guidelines. In it, they basically agreed, among other things, to make teaching staff official, more posts for the police, more housing, a functioning administration and a “decade of investment”.
In addition, the new Senate is to set up a commission of experts to examine how the referendum for the expropriation of large housing companies can be implemented. At the same time as the House of Representatives election, a clear majority of voters voted in favor of the referendum.