She has not yet seen the exploratory paper, but it will be soon. Jamila Schäfer is on her way to the meeting of the federal executive board of the Greens when she calls on Friday morning. It is the day on which the preliminary decision is made that exploratory talks between the SPD, FPD and the Greens will turn into real coalition negotiations that can lead to a traffic light alliance.
And because Schäfer is not only a directly elected member of the Bundestag in the south of Munich, but also deputy federal chairman of her party and part of the expanded exploratory team, she is very close to the current negotiations. Despite her young age, she is almost an old hand in Berlin’s political business.
What is she most looking forward to right now? “When everything has been done so that there can be a solid, good coalition agreement.” In order to do her part, Jamila Schäfer has been sitting at her desk for the past few weeks, “from morning to evening”, she has been working on the preparations for the coalition talks, especially on European policy. Sometimes she thought to herself, “It would be nice to put your feet up for an evening after the exhausting election campaign”. Because lack of sleep has now accumulated in abundance.
But, she also says: “It’s a great honor and responsibility, and you know what you’re doing it for.” Before the negotiations really start, she wants to use this weekend to at least reduce the lack of sleep a little. There is now a broader awareness that it may not be the best if politicians are completely exhausted and make the most important decisions for the future of the country.
Arriving at the Bundestag takes one or two selfies, here Sebastian Roloff (right) with his new colleague Jan Dieren.
(Photo: Sebastian Roloff)
On this Friday morning, Sebastian Roloff would very much like to know what is in this exploratory paper. After all, this and the subsequent coalition negotiations could shape his first four years as a member of the Bundestag. He also comes from the south of Munich and entered parliament via the SPD’s state list. His new parliamentary group has just received an invitation that all members will be informed about the path to the traffic light coalition in a meeting in the late afternoon. He doesn’t know much, he says, the radio has been sparse. The exploratory teams from the SPD, Greens and FDP already formed “a very closed circle”.
“I would like something with an external impact,” says Roloff about his office in Munich
It’s not good for personal curiosity, but it might be a good sign if you later rule together. Like Schäfer, Roloff is new to it, but he too has already found a basis on how he can possibly have more say in the future than is the rule for a newcomer. The left wing of the SPD elected him as one of its three federal chairmen just under two weeks ago. For him, however, this means even more organizational obligations than he already has. “The complete handover of who has access to which laptop, and so on.”
But Roloff has already used the past few weeks to vigorously push ahead with his new parliamentary life. Like all his colleagues, he can hire employees for 22,000 euros per month. He has decided on a model with three full-time and two part-time employees, with whom he will maintain an office in Berlin and one in his constituency. The five must be enough for it. “I wanted to pay them properly, too,” says Roloff. His team starts on November 1st and is still looking for an office in Munich. “I would like something with an external impact, where the citizens can simply come in. Not easy to find in the south.” In return, Roloff is one step further in Berlin, which is not easy either. “I have a room in Berlin-Mitte,” he says. However, the decor is still a bit spartan. “So far there has only been one mattress in it. I’ve taken over the table and chairs.” He also has a roof over his head for work, albeit a temporary one. Because new MPs cannot move into their own office immediately, traditionally it takes time. “I received asylum in Bärbel Bas’ office,” he says, from a colleague in the parliamentary group who has been with us for a long time. So now he can only use his “temporary office”, the café in the Paul-Löbe-Haus, to drink coffee again. Until his employees arrive, it will remain a little lonely for him, which is why Roloff sometimes looks longingly at his Instagram account: “I can see where my team is on the beach.”
Schäfer has also found shelter with a colleague who has been in the Bundestag for a long time: She can use the office of Kirsten Kappert-Gonther, a member of parliament from Bremen. That is practically between two sessions in the Bundestag, says the 28-year-old. There she does notice from time to time that she is a newcomer – getting lost is still part of it. But Schäfer is lucky that she still has an office in the federal office of the Greens, she mostly works there. She has already hired an office manager, who had her first day at work on Friday. Schäfer wants to advertise more jobs in the coming weeks. Hiring scientific staff only makes sense if it is clear which committees she sits on, she says. Which could it be? There are already topics that would appeal to her – she doesn’t want to reveal more yet. “We’ll clarify that internally, in a fair, transparent process.” There will be another position in her constituency office. Jamila Schäfer is now also looking for a place in the south of Munich, which should above all be easily accessible.
A highlight for Schäfer was the federal congress of the Green Youth last weekend, the youth organization for which it has “unfortunately been too old for a few months”. It’s over on the 28th birthday. It was all the nicer to “walk through this hall” with 800 people, “the largest federal congress of all time”. The mood: “Euphoric”, after all, a lot of young people have moved into parliament for the Greens.
It will finally be there on Friday lunchtime: the exploratory paper. Schäfer is delighted in the social media: about the commitment to the Paris climate goals and a more modern state, to higher minimum wages and basic child security – and above all to “end dying and human rights violations at the external borders”. Again Roloff and Schäfer are a bit closer to the right start of their new work.