After just under three weeks, negotiations on a traffic light coalition are going into the next round. On Wednesday at 6 p.m., the deadline for the 22 working groups to present their results to the party leaderships of the SPD, Greens and FDP expired. There has been progress in areas such as climate, finance, transport and foreign and defense policy, but the papers of the working groups have brackets – that means that there is still no agreement on the points, as the dpa reported on Wednesday evening. This should now be resolved in top rounds.
The traffic light parties want to conclude the negotiations by the end of November. The previous Finance Minister, Olaf Scholz, will be elected Chancellor by the Bundestag and his cabinet will be sworn in during the St. Nicholas week from December 6th.
The coalition negotiations officially began on October 21. Before that, the SPD, FDP and the Greens had already negotiated an exploratory paper in which the first cornerstones were defined. After that, hardly anything from the discussions of the working groups leaked out. That did not change on Wednesday at the end of the deliberations. It even remained unclear whether all specialist groups had submitted their results on time.
The party leaderships had given the working groups very detailed guidelines on how to deliver their results: the small groups up to three pages, the large groups up to five, font size 11, Calibri, line spacing 1.5. The individual results should be brought together in the next few days before work on the still open points begins.
Most people in Germany, however, do not believe that the ambitious schedule can be kept to the election of the chancellor. According to a survey by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the German Press Agency, 50 percent expect an extension. Another 10 percent even believe that the talks will fail. Only 23 percent expect the government to be sworn in in the Bundestag by December 10, as planned. (11/10/2021)
Klingbeil wants to keep his back free for a chancellor, Olaf Scholz
The designated SPD leader Lars Klingbeil wants to keep his back free for a chancellor, Olaf Scholz. “One of the mistakes after the 1998 election victory was that a party chairman, Oskar Lafontaine, concentrated on making life difficult for a Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder. We will not repeat this mistake,” said Klingbeil Rheinische Post. In the past, as Secretary General, he had not always agreed with the candidate for Chancellor Scholz. However, this has always been clarified internally. “The times in which conflicts were carried out in public are over. I will do everything I can to ensure that it stays the same.”
Klingbeil left it open who the designated co-boss Saskia Esken and he would like to be General Secretary in the future. When asked whether he would ask ex-Juso boss Kevin Kühnert to take over the job, Klingbeil replied evasively: “We are on friendly terms. We sometimes have a different opinion on this matter – but we both want the same political style shape the party. ” (11/10/2021)
Esken is sticking to the schedule for coalition negotiations
The SPD chairwoman Saskia Esken has confirmed that she wants to stick to the schedule for the coalition negotiations. “It will definitely stick to our schedule. It is a very clear plan that we can elect Olaf Scholz as our Federal Chancellor during St. Nicholas Week and the preparatory work must be done by then,” said Esken in the ARD.
In the coalition negotiations between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, 22 working groups are to work out their positions by Wednesday. Several Green politicians were dissatisfied with the progress made in the talks. Green parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt did not rule out the possibility that the coalition negotiations could take longer than planned. One tries very hard, she assured in the ARD: “But the result counts and not the date.” (09/11/2021)
CDU Vice Stroble hopes for fewer changes at the top of the party
The deputy CDU Bundeschefe Thomas Strobl hopes that the upcoming election of the new chairman will bring more calm in the party. “We will soon have the fourth person in the federal chairmanship for the fifth year, so continuity is needed again,” said the head of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg Heilbronn voice and the Südkurier. The new CDU leadership is to be elected at a party conference in January in Hanover.
“The most important task of the new chairman will be to bring the Union together and to integrate a wide variety of life experiences and interests,” Strobl told the two papers. “Second, it must be made clear what the Union stands for in terms of content.” If a traffic light coalition soon rules in the federal government, the CDU will also have to do good opposition work. “The new federal chairman must ensure that the Union accepts the role of the opposition and fulfills it vigorously,” demanded the 61-year-old.
He himself no longer runs as federal vice-president. “Of course I will do everything to ensure that another deputy federal chairman comes from Baden-Württemberg,” announced Strobl. “We will be putting together the staff sheet with which the CDU Baden-Württemberg goes to the federal party congress in the next few weeks.” (09/11/2021)
Klingbeil criticizes Union for “party politics” in the pandemic
SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil has criticized the Union for its behavior in the current Corona situation. “People act as if they have nothing more to do with politics, they say goodbye to the role of the opposition,” he said on ZDF. Klingbeil could in future take over the chairmanship of the SPD together with Saskia Esken. He was happy, he said, “that we have managed to keep party politics out of this difficult pandemic response, and it is a pity that the Union is not making it at the moment.”
Previously, Union politicians had criticized the approach of the partners of a possible traffic light coalition in the pandemic. The acting Chancellery Minister Helge Braun (CDU) accused the SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz of blocking a federal-state meeting to coordinate the corona policy in order not to disrupt the ongoing coalition negotiations between the SPD and the Greens and the FDP. The Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU boss Markus Söder accused the possible traffic light coalition of ducking away from the tense Corona situation. (08.11.2021)
Schwesig: coalition agreement for red-red in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is in place
The coalition agreement for red-red in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is in place. Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) tweeted this. Shortly beforehand, the negotiators from the SPD and the Left had a final meeting. The coalition negotiations were officially concluded after eight rounds on Friday.
In the early afternoon, the negotiators Schwesig and Simone Oldenburg (left) want to present the contract publicly. On Saturday, special party conferences of the SPD and the Left take place to vote on the contract. It should be signed on the same day. The re-election of Schwesig as Prime Minister in the Schwerin state parliament and the appointment of her cabinet are planned for next Monday. (11/08/2021)