Traffic light explorations: New round – first statements

Have the SPD, Greens and FDP made a first step towards coalition talks? At the end of the exploratory round today, they want to say something. On the subject of cannabis, the three parties are largely in agreement – which is causing criticism from the police.

Day two of the explorations between the potential traffic light coalition partners should – unlike yesterday’s appointment – end with public statements. After the meeting of the heads of the SPD, Greens and FDP, which was scheduled for around four hours, the explorers want to appear in front of the press around noon and comment on the status of the deliberations. A statement about the start of coalition talks is not yet expected, because another meeting is scheduled for Friday.

The aim is to take stock of the interim balance at the end of the week – and to decide whether the three of you will enter into coalition negotiations. In parallel to the traffic light negotiations, the Greens and the FDP have kept the possibility of a Jamaica coalition with the Union open. Due to the election result, the SPD will be the strongest force in the Bundestag in the future and will rely on a traffic light with the Greens and FDP.

Conversations in small groups

To what extent the three parties have already converged on contentious issues such as finances and economics, remained unclear after the ten-hour meeting yesterday. Nothing leaked out about content. The parties negotiated in small groups of six people each, and depending on the topic, specialist politicians were called in to form the core of the party leadership. Put the programs on top of each other and see what can be brought together well, said Thomas Kutschaty, the SPD state chief in North Rhine-Westphalia tagesschau24. “In many areas I can imagine that we will actually achieve a socio-political awakening.”

The parties have not yet publicly moved away from their previously drawn red lines. In the case of the Liberals, for example, these are tax increases or a relaxation of the debt brake. The SPD Vice Kevin Kühnert sees differences primarily in tax and financial policy. The new co-federal spokesman for the Green Youth, Timon Dzienus, spoke of “tough chunks with the FDP, where the Greens and the SPD have to assert themselves in many places”.

Warning of cannabis legalization

In other areas that are not decisive for the formation of a coalition, however, the parties are on the same line – for example in the regulated distribution of cannabis. In their Bundestag election program, the Greens announced that they wanted to enable “regulated sales of cannabis in licensed specialist shops”. In its program, the FDP called for the controlled release of cannabis. The SPD advocates a “regulated charge” to adults initially in model projects.

That in turn calls the police unions on the scene. The federal chairman of the police union (GdP), Oliver Malchow, told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” that it made no sense to open the door to another “dangerous and often trivialized” drug in addition to the legal but dangerous alcohol. “It has to be an end to glossing over the joint,” he said. The consumption of cannabis can lead to considerable health problems and social conflicts, especially among young people.

The chairman of the German Police Union (DPolG), Rainer Wendt, told the newspaper that cannabis is not only a dangerous gateway drug, but also a danger, especially for young people, because its composition cannot be controlled. Wendt fears fatal consequences, especially in road traffic: “If people with stoned people soon take part in road traffic, we will have a problem.” Accidents with innocent injured people are already occurring again and again due to cannabis consumption.