Berlin – The SPD has given the green light for the first traffic light coalition at the federal level under the leadership of the future Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The delegates at a party congress voted with an overwhelming majority on Saturday for the coalition agreement with the Greens and the FDP. 98.8 percent voted for it, and there was long applause. “We now have the chance: A departure can take place for Germany”, emphasized Scholz and announced a government “which will tackle progress at a moment when it would be dangerous not to do so”. The decisions of the FDP and the Greens on the planned coalition are still pending.
In their coalition agreement negotiated over weeks, the traffic light parties promise, among other things, great efforts in terms of climate protection and restructuring of the industry. At the same time, improvements are planned for low-wage earners, tenants and families, for example. The minimum wage is to rise rapidly to 12 euros, and 400,000 new apartments are to be built annually. “I am incredibly proud of what we have negotiated together,” said Secretary General Lars Klingbeil.
Party leader Norbert Walter-Borjans promised that his party would still not be a “speaker of the government” and that he would continue to pursue the goals that did not make it into the coalition agreement. His co-chair, Saskia Esken, emphasized: “We write history with the traffic light.” But the three-party alliance is also a risk.
Vote from the FDP and the Greens is still pending
However, the vote of the SPD party congress alone is not enough to form the coalition. An FDP party conference will also vote on Sunday, and the Greens are currently questioning their members. The result of this ballot is to be announced on Monday. Only then will it be clear whether there will be a government made up of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP for the first time at the federal level. Then the coalition agreement could be signed on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Scholz could be elected Chancellor in the Bundestag and his cabinet sworn in.
Unlike the FDP and the Greens, the SPD has not yet announced who it will appoint as ministers in this cabinet. It is clear that the Social Democrats will take over the ministries for labor and social affairs, building, health, home affairs, defense and economic development in addition to the Chancellery. In addition, the SPD provides the minister of the Chancellery. It is expected that the names will not be announced until Monday – and that the SPD will nominate a majority of women. Scholz had promised that his cabinet would have equal numbers of women and men.
Scholz wants to rule for more than four years
During the coalition negotiations it had already become clear that the SPD, Greens and FDP wanted to display a different style of government than the grand coalition of the Union and SPD recently. “We are not interested in a policy of the lowest common denominator, but rather a policy of great impact,” Scholz promised when presenting the coalition agreement. He is already aiming for the alliance to last longer than one legislative period, i.e. longer than four years. “A government will be possible that will run to work together amicably and to be re-elected,” he said. The departure is just not done in four years.
The likely future Chancellor has already been challenged in recent weeks due to the worsening Corona crisis. It was criticized that neither the executive grand coalition nor the future traffic light coalition felt responsible for resolutely tackling the rapidly increasing numbers of infections. On Saturday, Scholz defended the stricter corona restrictions that have now been adopted, especially for unvaccinated people, and campaigned for a boost in vaccinations.
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