SPD, Greens and FDP continue to sound out – politics

Germany voted. The parties are sounding out the next government coalition. Follow all developments in the news blog.

The leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP comment on their explorations for a government coalition. 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-chairman 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 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. The women’s union includes all female members of the CDU. (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 it came to a member survey. “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 reorganization 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 known: no tax increases and no relaxation 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)

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