Dhe state board of the Berlin SPD approved on Wednesday evening the proposal of the Berlin governing mayor and SPD state chairwoman Franziska Giffey to propose that her party start coalition negotiations with the CDU. 25 members voted in favor, twelve against, there were no abstentions. “We found with the CDU that there were and are very large overlaps,” said Giffey, who also spoke of “respect for the election result”.
The Berlin election winner, the CDU, had previously signaled that it was aiming for a government alliance with the SPD. As the “Berliner Morgenpost” reported, the CDU’s top candidate, Kai Wegner, wants to propose to the state executive that coalition negotiations be started with the SPD. This step was coordinated with the SPD leadership. The CDU board will meet on Thursday to decide.
In an internal assessment available to the FAZ, the SPD parliamentary group in Berlin said it would be difficult to enter into the actually preferred red-green-red alliance because the Greens had “driven the price very high”. You have not accommodated the SPD in many projects, such as the expansion of the subway or higher goals in housing construction. In addition, they would have wanted to weaken the “guideline competence” of the governing mayor. The left is “very unstable” and because of the internal conflict with Sahra Wagenknecht, could not guarantee that it would be able to support the coalition for three years.
The CDU, on the other hand, has come a long way towards meeting the SPD, even on issues such as tenant protection and the voting age of 16. Giffey is willing to work as a senator under Wegner. The election chances for the SPD in 2026 are better so that “we don’t end up with 10 percent”. The Berlin Jusos announced resistance. “We will oppose any attempt to form a coalition with the CDU,” said Sinem Tasan-Funke.
Greens top candidate Bettina Jarasch was “surprised” by Giffey’s move. It does not correspond to “the course and the results of our talks”. Left-wing politicians were also disappointed. “The SPD reduces its weight through its own behavior, I am dismayed to note that,” said Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left).