Berlin election 2023: Berlin left never wants to negotiate with Giffey again

Berlin Greens discuss the outcome of the Wahl and the soundings

06.50 a.m.: The Berlin Greens want to look back on the exploratory talks after the decision by the CDU and SPD for coalition negotiations on a two-party coalition. For Tuesday evening (7.30 p.m.), a state committee meeting called a small party congress is planned. The eight members of the green exploratory team are to report on the rounds with the CDU on the one hand and the SPD and the left on the other. There will be a debate on the assessment of the sounders and an analysis of the outcome of the talks.

During the election campaign, the Greens’ top candidate Bettina Jarasch spoke out in favor of continuing the three-party coalition with the SPD and the left, which has formed the Senate in Berlin since 2016. Jarasch had announced that the Greens wanted to be the strongest party and that she herself wanted to be the governing mayor. In the repeat election on February 12, however, the Greens came third, albeit just behind the SPD. Both parties achieved 18.4 percent, well behind the election winner, the CDU, with 28.4 percent.

The CDU and SPD now want to start coalition talks, which are scheduled to begin on Thursday. The intention of the SPD leadership to hold coalition talks about a two-party coalition with the Christian Democrats became known last Tuesday. At the time, there were still exploratory talks between the CDU and the Greens. Should the CDU and SPD agree on a joint government, the Greens in Berlin would end up back in the opposition after almost seven years.

CDU and SPD set up specialist groups for the coalition negotiations

Tuesday, March 07, 2023 at 06:47: On Monday, the Berlin SPD decided on the composition of the working groups for the coalition negotiations with the CDU. This was announced by a spokesman for the party in the early evening. In the afternoon, the state board met for this purpose. 13 specialist groups are planned, in which negotiations on topics from areas such as work and social affairs, business, mobility, education or administration and digitization will be conducted.

As a rule, eight politicians from both parties should be represented in the groups. The presidium of the Berlin CDU also decided on the composition of the specialist groups on Monday evening, as a spokesman for the German Press Agency said. CDU and SPD want to start coalition negotiations on Thursday to form a black-red state government.

The first meeting of the so-called umbrella group is planned for the start. She is the core team of negotiators from both sides, which decisively decides what ends up in the coalition agreement. It is not yet known who the CDU and SPD belong to the umbrella group.

Fine-tuning at the CDU and SPD before the start of coalition negotiations

Monday, March 6, 06:25: The CDU and SPD still have some homework to do before the coalition negotiations begin on Thursday. According to both parties on Sunday, the so-called umbrella group should meet for the first time on Thursday. She is the core team of negotiators from both sides, which decisively decides what is finally agreed in which formulations and ends up in the coalition agreement. It is not yet known who the CDU and SPD belong to the umbrella group.

Usually, however, the top politicians of the negotiating parties are represented in the “Club of Decision Makers”, such as the state chairmen Kai Wegner (CDU) as well as Franziska Giffey and Raed Saleh (SPD). Putting together the working groups one level below is considered a puzzle game. During the coalition negotiations, they meet regularly, if necessary at the same time. This includes the experts for the respective topics from the two factions.

Around a dozen groups are planned to deal with individual topics such as internal security, transport, the economy, justice, education or climate protection. SPD state and parliamentary leader Saleh has announced that he himself will lead a working group on diversity. Both parties have also indicated that the issue of finance will dominate the talks for many reasons. CDU country chief Kai Wegner is stepping up the pace: He wants to be through with the negotiations in four weeks.

Berlin left never wants to negotiate with Giffey again

7:42 p.m.: The Berlin left is deeply upset about the SPD’s turn to a government coalition with the CDU and is ruling out future negotiations with SPD state leader Franziska Giffey. “We can now be angry, and I think we are rightly angry,” said Left Party leader Katina Schubert on Friday evening at a party conference.

That Giffey wanted to hold coalition talks with the CDU state chairman Kai Wegner – “to be honest, that’s shameful,” said Schubert. Schubert called the fact that the previous governing mayor had given her previous partners, the Left and the Greens, joint responsibility for the end of the red-green-red coalition as “denunciations”. These were “stunk and lied”. The statements would have caused long-lasting damage.

The left is now adjusting to its role in the opposition, but is aiming for a comeback. “We are the Berlin left and we will be back,” said Schubert.

Acting Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer said: “These are really not good days for Berlin.” A new edition of the red-green-red coalition on the left had not failed. “It was very clear: where there is a will, there is no Wegner,” said Lederer.

Capital Greens accuse Giffey-SPD of lying in a confidential analysis

10.08 am: In an internal analysis of the exploratory talks with the SPD, the Greens in the capital accuse Giffey and her team of lying. The background to this is a document by the Social Democrats’ exploratory commission, in which the SPD explains why, from its point of view, it can no longer form a coalition with the two parties.

In their analysis, the Greens now accuse the SPD of telling untruths. So it says right at the beginning that the SPD works with shortened statements to the point of untruth” compared to the green positions and agreements in the soundings. The SPD had accused the Greens of having questioned the coalition agreement that had existed since 2021. The Greens counter: The first agreement in the soundings was that the old coalition agreement should continue to apply. It is true that the Greens have always pointed out issues such as the financing and feasibility of projects.

In addition, the SPD criticized that the Greens would not have been willing to continue the nine-euro ticket. The Greens reply that they have always been in favor of the ticket. The party would also have wanted schoolchildren to have a free ticket. The party also wanted to set up a 29-euro ticket for seniors, young people or as a job ticket co-financed by the employer. However, they wanted to build on the federal regulation in order to avoid a second system.

In the paper, the Greens address further allegations by the SPD. In their exploratory paper, they claimed that the Greens had “raised considerable doubts about the seriousness of their ability to reach agreements in almost all political sub-areas (…).” Accordingly, the Greens have also put the current coalition agreement between the parties into perspective. Among other things, on the topics of housing construction, new school construction and renovation and teacher training, “the binding nature of agreements was denied” in the talks. The exploratory commission therefore came to the conclusion that the self-interests of the Greens would prevail.

Berlin’s CDU wants to start coalition negotiations with the SPD

Thursday, 5:43 p.m.: The CDU in Berlin wants to start coalition negotiations with the SPD. The state board of the party decided unanimously, as a CDU spokesman announced on Thursday. The SPD state board had already spoken out in favor of alliance talks with the CDU on Wednesday.

This indicates a change of power in the capital, which has been governed by the SPD, the Greens and the Left since 2016, although the previous tripartite alliance would also have a majority in the new parliament. Should black and red work, Franziska Giffey (SPD), who has only been head of government since December 2021, would have to leave the town hall. She has declared her willingness to work as a senator in the new state government.

In this case, the new governing mayor would be the CDU top candidate Kai Wegner. The CDU last provided a head of government in Berlin with Eberhard Diepgen, who was in office from 1984 to 1989 and from 1991 to 2001.

The CDU won the repeat election on February 12 with 28.2 percent. SPD and Greens both got 18.4 percent. With 53 votes, the Social Democrats only have a wafer-thin lead over the Greens. They did worse than ever in a House of Representatives election. The left came to 12.2 percent, the AfD to 9.1. The FDP flew out of parliament with 4.6 percent.

You can read more about the election in Berlin on the following pages.