parties
Black-Red: Berlin gets a new government
Franziska Giffey (SPD), Governing Mayor of Berlin, and Kai Wegner, Chairman of the CDU Berlin, after a press conference to present the negotiated coalition agreement. photo
© Monika Skolimowska/dpa
In Berlin, the reign of Red-Green-Red is coming to an end. Instead, the CDU and SPD want to start with their two-party coalition. CDU country chief Kai Wegner is almost there.
Berlin is about to change government. On Thursday, the CDU state chairman Kai Wegner is to be elected the first governing mayor of Berlin since 2001 in the state parliament. It is very likely that he will get the necessary majority. This is a deep cut for state politics in the capital. After the alliance of SPD, Greens and Left, which has governed since 2016, the CDU and SPD want to form a two-party coalition.
There would still have been a majority for red-green-red in the state parliament. Berlin’s SPD state chairwoman Franziska Giffey could also continue with the Greens and Left and remain head of government. But she and the capital SPD decided differently.
However, the SPD is deeply divided on this issue. In the past few weeks, many Social Democrats have warned of the black-red coalition as a step backwards. They fear that the CDU will no longer be able to pursue a progressive policy in the areas of mobility, climate protection, integration and internal security.
Close vote among the SPD members
In the SPD member vote on the coalition agreement, approval was only 54.3 percent. Giffey and her co-state chairman Raed Saleh called this a clear result, but provoked renewed opposition, not only from the Berlin Jusos. They had described the coalition agreement as “a black corset with red bows” and called for a no vote.
From the point of view of the SPD youth organization, the continuation of Red-Green-Red would be the better alternative. And there are also voices in the SPD that have spoken out in favor of the opposition. Giffey and Saleh, who are largely behind the decision in favor of black and red, have repeatedly pointed out the social democratic handwriting that the coalition agreement has.
The CDU did not have such lengthy debates. At a party conference, the delegates voted unanimously for the coalition agreement. “Madness” Wegner then called it enthusiastically.
Many projects
From the point of view of the new government, there is a need for action in many areas: With a program worth billions, more should be done for climate protection. Wegner wants to make administrative reform a top priority, which many have been demanding for years.
The police and fire brigade are to be better equipped, including with stun guns and cameras called bodycams that record operations. Black and red wants to speed up housing construction in the capital, where the housing shortage is chronic and rents have risen significantly in recent years.
Wegner has announced that he wants to work every day to make Berlin a little bit better. The new Senate is more female than before: seven women and three men head the departments. There is also Wegner as Governing Mayor, as the head of state in Berlin is called. And seven out of eleven Senate members are no older than 50, three have a so-called migration background.
There is still one hurdle: the CDU head of state cannot be sure of getting the required absolute majority in the first ballot on Thursday. With 159 MPs, he would have to get at least 80 votes – the CDU and SPD together have 86 MPs. By the third ballot at the latest, when a simple majority is enough, Wegner’s election should be almost certain.