Germany The Green and Liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) announced on Wednesday that it would seek to form a three-party coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD), which received the most votes in the Bundestag elections, at least now abandoning the alternative Angelas Merkeles Conservative Bloc (CDU / CSU).
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With the decision of both “golden shares” parties, the CDU / CSU is closer to coming into opposition, which will be a big change for the country after 16 years with Merkel’s center-right in a leading role in government.
“Voters have given us a mandate to form a government together,” SPD leader Olaf Scholz told reporters.
The first SPD, FDP and Green trilogues will take place on Thursday.
The leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Armin Lashett, who led the Conservatives to his worst-ever election result, insisted he still had the prospect of becoming chancellor.
Conservatives respect the Green and FDP decision, Lašett said, adding that the CDU / CSU bloc was “still ready to negotiate”.
Markus Zeder, who runs the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), was more skeptical.
The possibility of a CDU / CSU-led government has essentially been “rejected,” Zeder said.
The Conservative bloc needs to prepare for opposition work after four Merkel-led coalitions, the CSU leader said.
“It will change our country,” Zeder said.
According to the latest opinion polls, most Germans want the current finance minister and vice chancellor Scholz to become chancellor.
According to Green Co-Chair Annalen Berbock, after preliminary talks with the SPD and the CDU / CSU, the Greens “think it makes sense” to focus on a coalition led by the SPD.
Germany has “big challenges” and needs a “fresh start,” Burbock said.
“This country cannot afford the same situation for long,” she added.
FDP leader Christian Lindner has confirmed that his party has agreed to the Greens’ proposal to start formal sounding talks with the SPD.
There will be no “parallel talks” with the Conservatives, Lindner said.
Greens and FDP are not quite natural partners in politics, with differences of opinion on issues such as taxation, climate policy and public spending.
However, both parties have shown readiness to “build bridges” to work in government.
The FDP will only engage in a government that will increase the “value of freedom” and give a real impetus to the country’s reconstruction, Lindner said, adding that he expects liberal policies to be pursued.
The Greens’ co-chair, Robert Habek, said the bilateral meetings in recent days had shown that “the greatest overlap in terms of policy content” could be achieved within the SPD, the FDP and the Greens.
This is especially true of social policy, Habek said.
Since the Bundestag elections on September 26, both the SPD and the Conservatives have been trying to convince the Greens and the FDP that they should join the coalition directly with them.
According to the results obtained after counting all the votes, 25.7% of Germans voted for the SPD, while 24.1% voted for the CDU / CSU.
Given the small difference in votes, both camps have expressed demands for the formation of a government, and purely arithmetically, each of them can form a majority coalition if they are able to secure the necessary support from other parties.
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