Berlin Left, SPD, Greens Agree to Coalition Talks, 17 October
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Berlin's exploratory talks between the Left party, the SPD and the Greens ended on Saturday 17 October with an agreement to move on to formal coalition negotiations, according to party sources cited by the news agencies DPA and AFP. The three parties gave a joint press statement at 17:00 at the Haus der Statistik.
Before negotiations can begin, each party has to approve the step. The Greens called a small party conference for Monday. The SPD state board is expected to decide on the basis of the exploratory paper, with no date announced. The Left scheduled its party conference for 31 October because of the two week autumn school holidays in Berlin. If all three parties agree, coalition negotiations could start in early November.
The Left won the state parliament election on 20 September by a clear margin. Last Thursday it agreed to exploratory talks with the SPD and the Greens after several preliminary meetings.
The talks were overshadowed from the start by accusations of antisemitism against individual Left members. The Left had all of its parliamentary group members sign a text on the issue, but it matched the earlier agreement between the three parties only in parts, and the Greens and the SPD criticised that. Now the joint text is to become part of the coalition agreement, if it comes to that.
The parliamentary group leadership also had to deal with Neukölln member of parliament Vanessa Emde, who on Thursday evening sharply criticised the declaration on Instagram after signing it herself on Tuesday. According to the group leadership, there is no longer a basis for working together with her.
The final decision on whether Berlin gets a three party government now rests with the three party bodies in the coming two weeks.
Sources: tagesschau.de, Der Spiegel
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