Saturday, December 4th 2021
Personal details only on Monday
SPD votes on coalition agreement
Before the new government is sworn in next week, the parties involved must sign the coalition agreement. To this end, the SPD is calling a party congress today. Will there already be details on filling the social democratic ministerial posts? In particular, the appointment of the health department is eagerly awaited.
At a party congress this Saturday, the SPD will decide whether it wants to enter into the planned coalition with the Greens and the FDP. The delegates are supposed to vote on the coalition agreement of the traffic light parties, which promises a lot of climate protection, a restructuring of the economy, but also improvements for low-wage earners, tenants and families. Before that, the likely future Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the party leaders Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans want to seek approval for the contract.
Among other things, the SPD, Greens and FDP intend to introduce a minimum wage of 12 euros. In order to make living affordable, the rent brake for new lettings is to be extended and rent increases are to be capped more strongly in certain areas. Electricity customers are to be relieved by the fact that the billions in the EEG levy are no longer financed through the electricity bill. The parties agreed to set up a new Federal Ministry for Building and to expand the Ministry of Economics to include climate protection. By 2030, Germany is to get 80 percent of its electricity from renewable energies.
However, the vote of the SPD party congress alone is not enough to form the coalition. An FDP party congress will vote on Sunday, and the Greens are currently questioning their members. The result of the strike vote is to be announced on Monday. Then the coalition agreement could be signed on Tuesday, on Wednesday Olaf Scholz could be elected Chancellor in the Bundestag and his cabinet sworn in. After 16 years, the era of Angela Merkel, who did not run again in the federal elections on September 26th, ends.
Many want Lauterbach
Unlike the FDP and the Greens, the SPD has not yet announced who it will appoint as ministers. What is clear is that, in addition to the Chancellery, she will take over the ministries for labor and social affairs, building, health, home affairs, defense as well as economic cooperation and development. It also provides the Minister of the Chancellery. It is expected that the names of the ministers will not be announced until Monday.
The most exciting still open question is who the SPD will make the new Minister of Health? In the population, the member of the Bundestag and epidemiologist Karl Lauterbach has sympathy on his side. In a survey by the polling institute YouGov, 45 percent are in favor of the 58-year-old. 33 percent would like another politician to hold this important post in the fight against the corona pandemic. Scholz has not yet shown any public preference. The epidemiologist Lauterbach has achieved great popularity since the beginning of the corona pandemic through numerous television appearances and his lively Twitter use. In addition to him, Hamburg’s First Mayor Peter Tschentscher is also under discussion as a possible health minister. He is a molecular biologist and a doctor.
Another exciting question when filling the last cabinet positions: Will Scholz keep his promise that his government will include at least as many women as men? Of the 16 federal ministers, nine have already been named by the Greens and the FDP – including four women and five men. With Scholz as Chancellor, there are six men. In order to fulfill the promise of the future head of government, the SPD would have to appoint at least five federal ministers. There were then only two ministerial posts left for the men.
It is already known how the SPD intends to reorganize its party leadership for the term of office. On Friday, the presidium and the party executive voted for the former Juso boss Kevin Kühnert to become the new general secretary. He is said to move from the post of party index to the powerful managerial post, because incumbent Lars Klingbeil is applying for the party chairmanship. Klingbeil wants to take over the post from Walter-Borjans, who no longer takes up the position. Saskia Esken will once again be co-chair. The new SPD leadership will be elected at another party congress on December 11th.