Germany voted. The parties are sounding out the next government coalition. Follow all developments in the news blog.
Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble no longer wants to stand for the federal executive committee at the planned special party conference of the CDU. “He is not available for a candidacy for the federal executive committee of his party,” said a spokesman for Schäuble. The 79-year-old wants to stay in the Bundestag for the full legislative period; in his constituency in Offenburg he won the direct mandate again in the election. The spokesman said he wanted to see this over the entire electoral term.
After its historic debacle in the federal election, the CDU wants to re-elect the entire federal executive committee at a special party conference. It is unclear whether the party congress will take place in December or, if possible, in January. So far, Schäuble is a member of the CDU Presidium as President of the Bundestag. However, the office will be filled again after the federal elections, as a rule it goes to the strongest parliamentary group in the Bundestag, now the SPD. (10/12/2021)
Wissing: Traffic light explorations completed by Friday
The leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP have commented on the status of the explorations for a possible traffic light coalition. “We talked about how we can solve the country’s problems – across all topics that are relevant to the explorations,” said the Federal Managing Director of the Greens, Michael Kellner: The discussions were “very intensive”. The number of similarities has increased, according to Kellner – “but there are still issues to be clarified”.
Lars Klingbeil, General Secretary of the SPD, also spoke of intensive discussions in which “all relevant topics were addressed.” “We set out together. And that worked out well in these one and a half days.” He said this with full awareness that the parties still had a long way to go and that there would still be one or the other hurdle on the way. Klingbeil is certain, however, that the three parties can overcome the hurdles together.
What is needed now is a government that can tackle the major tasks. Klingbeil named digitization, the question of the modern state, climate protection and Europe as examples. And, he continued: “It’s about clearly showing the citizens that politics is thinking of them and making sure that they can get through the challenges of the future.” It is now a matter of evaluating what has been discussed so far – he is in good spirits that this will succeed.
The moment of truth is now “still ahead of us,” said FDP General Secretary Volker Wissing. “We will evaluate the discussions of the last few days and put down on paper what we can carry together.” That will be the basis of a joint decision. “Our goal is to have a basis for decision-making by Friday.” On the basis of these, a decision will then be made as to whether the bodies can be recommended to start coalition negotiations.
Even before the leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP officially commented on their explorations, Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann revealed which issues had come up during the explorations when leaving the venue. “Europe, migration and flight – and something else, I wasn’t there,” said the Green politician after the round of explorations on Tuesday. During their statements, however, the three representatives of the parties kept a low profile regarding further content.
At nine o’clock the party representatives met in Berlin. It was planned that all major topics such as climate protection, finances and economics would be discussed. On Monday, the representatives of the three parties had explored for about ten hours, but did not comment publicly on the content of the talks afterwards.
On Wednesday and Thursday the general secretaries of the parties want to continue working in small groups, while SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz travels to Washington to meet the G-20 finance ministers. The aim is to end the explorations for the formation of a traffic light coalition possibly already on Friday with an agreement in principle. Then the parties’ bodies could decide to start coalition negotiations. (10/12/2021)
CDU parliamentary group vice-chairman Schön calls for greater participation by women
The vice-chairwoman of the Union parliamentary group, Nadine Schön, is of the opinion that women should be more involved in the reorganization of the CDU. “For years we have had too few women in parliament and the party. We have to get more,” she said Rheinische Post. It is true that the gender of the future chairman or chairman is of secondary importance: it needs someone “who brings the party together and broadens it”. Nevertheless, the party had female chairmen for a long time – that was good for the party, said Schön.
The chairwoman of the Women’s Union, Annette Widmann-Mauz, also thinks: “The repositioning of the CDU in Germany can only succeed in terms of content, personnel and structure with the women in the party.” She told the editorial network Germany (RND). The women’s union is participating in the process that has now been initiated with a conference of female representatives and representatives. This will take place soon. All female members of the CDU belong to the women’s union. (10/12/2021)
Beginning of the “in-depth explorations”: smaller groups, more details
The leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP have started their explorations to form a traffic light coalition. It should now also be discussed in smaller groups about details, as it was said from the participants. The representatives of the parties have not yet commented in detail on the status of the talks. It is becoming apparent, however, that there are differences in taxes, debts and the financing of climate protection measures.
The top representatives of the FDP and the Greens – Christian Lindner and Volker Wissing as well as Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock – met together on Monday morning at the Berlin exhibition center, where some climate protectors had already gathered. These demanded more speed in order to curb global warming.
The talks should last until 7 p.m. Further meetings are announced for Tuesday and Friday. On Wednesday and Thursday, the general secretaries of the parties want to continue working in small groups, while SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz travels to Washington to meet the G-20 finance ministers. By the end of the week, the parties want to finally draw up an interim balance. The FDP and the Greens then want to decide whether to enter into coalition negotiations with the SPD. (11.10.2021)
CDU country chief Althusmann expects a clear timetable for the reorganization
For a possible new start in terms of personnel for the federal CDU, Lower Saxony’s CDU boss Bernd Althusmann expects a clear schedule after the talks on Monday. “I am assuming that the presidium will decide on a clear schedule that shows the way to a special party conference,” said Althusmann of the German press agency.
In the opinion of Althusmann, the members should be more involved in the election of a possible new federal chairman. Especially when it comes down to a controversial decision between several candidates. “In my opinion, the CDU has been deeply divided since the tight internal party decisions. The dispute between the CDU and CSU over the question of the candidate for chancellor did the rest. That was a heavy burden in the election campaign.”
CDU boss Armin Laschet has announced that he wants to submit a proposal to the party’s top bodies this Monday to reorganize the staff. He would like to moderate this process himself. First of all, the closest tour around Laschet, the Presidium, meets in Berlin at 9 a.m. The larger federal board meets from 11 a.m.
When asked who will lead the CDU in the future, Althusmann said that Friedrich Merz had “a certain natural claim to leadership”. He may not be the young face in terms of age, but he would enjoy the greatest approval within the party if a member survey were to take place. “But, as I understand it, he doesn’t want to go into another argument with well-known candidates like Jens Spahn, Norbert Röttgen or others.”
Althusmann sees Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther as a possible candidate for the CDU chairmanship. “He is young and still has government experience. Although he is facing a state election next year, that does not have to be an exclusion criterion.” Günther probably does not want to run for chairmanship. Of the world he said, “I’m happy to help with the realignment of the federal government, but not in the front line.” He advocated realigning the CDU this year. “Overall, we need a new start and should therefore re-elect our entire board of directors – in the course of this year.” Günther criticized the fact that “in the debate about the reorganization of the party only men always play a role. That bothers me extremely.” (11.10.2021)
FDP confirms red lines before traffic light talks
Before the further exploratory talks between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP to form a traffic light coalition, the parliamentary manager of the FDP parliamentary group, Marco Buschmann, confirms the framework for a possible alliance. “The red lines of the FDP are well known: no tax increases and no loosening of the debt brake of our Basic Law,” says Buschmann mirrors. There are still other points of friction, but all three parties are “ambitious” https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/. “The talks must show whether there is friction energy for an impulse forward. So far, everything has been very serious professional. It is clear to everyone involved: It’s about our country. “
The SPD, Greens and FDP will continue to talk on Monday about the formation of a traffic light coalition. Representatives of the three parties will meet in Berlin in the morning for in-depth exploratory talks. Further meetings are announced for Tuesday and Friday. On Wednesday and Thursday, the general secretaries of the parties want to continue working in small groups, while SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz travels to Washington to meet the G-20 finance ministers.
The exploratory talks point to the greatest conflicts over taxes, debts and the financing of climate protection measures. Green co-leader Robert Habeck emphasized on Sunday evening how important it is to succeed in negotiations with the FDP. “Failure is actually not an option,” he said on the ZDF program “Berlin direkt”. If a coalition of the SPD and Union were to emerge again, Germany would “go nuts” https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/. “We have to pull ourselves together a bit,” said Habeck. The finances are of course a “huge problem”.
The aim is to draw an interim balance at the end of the week. Then, above all, the FDP and the Greens want to decide whether to enter into coalition negotiations with the SPD – or whether there may have to be another exploratory round. The Greens and FDP have explicitly kept the possibility of a Jamaica coalition with the Union open. (11.10.2021)