Berlin SPD Supports Coalition Talks with Left Party and Greens

The Berlin SPD votes with a large majority for coalition negotiations with the Left Party and the Greens. The Greens want to decide on the start of the talks in the evening. The Berlin SPD wants to start with the Left Party and the Green coalition negotiations. This was decided by the state board at a digital meeting. According to the party, 26 board members voted for the coalition negotiations, three voted against. “We have succeeded in successfully introducing many SPD positions into the soundings, and we want to continue this in the coalition negotiations,” said the SPD state chairmen Bettina König and Steffen Krach. "To this end, we have received a clear mandate from the state board today." The Greens want to decide in the evening on the start of coalition talks. The left only votes on this at a party congress on October 31. If agreed, the coalition talks could begin in early November. If this succeeds, Left parliamentary group leader Elif Eralp could become the first governing mayor of her party in Berlin. Agreement also on socialization In the election to the Berlin House of Representatives on the 20th. In September, the left had become the strongest force with 25.7 percent. Behind this, the CDU reached 18.8 percent, the AfD 16.3 percent, the Greens 14.3 percent and - with their historically worst result - the SPD 12.1 percent. The ruling CDU/SPD coalition clearly lost its majority. Left, Green and SPD had achieved a breakthrough in their exploratory talks on Saturday. They agreed, among other things, on the socialization of large real estate groups, a new construction program for 100,000 apartments and the stronger promotion of public transport. On the exploratory paper, the parties had agreed in temporarily laborious negotiations. In particular, discussions about how the left dealt with anti-Semitism, fueled by several incidents in its own party, made the talks more difficult. A joint declaration on this is to be included in the coalition agreement if a government is formed. In it, the possible coalition for the protection of Jewish life, the right of Israel to exist and a two-state solution, which should enable both Israel’s security and the self-determination of the Palestinians. In the event of breaches of the principles, sanctions are provided for up to the exclusion of groups.