Signature before Christmas
The contract for the grand coalition in Hesse is in place
December 14, 2023, 8:31 a.m
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The Prime Minister emerged as the clear winner in the election duel between CDU incumbent Rhein and SPD challenger Faeser in Hesse in October. Now the opponents are forging a joint coalition. An important step has been taken: the coalition agreement is ready.
The CDU and SPD in Hesse have agreed on a coalition agreement. This was announced by a spokeswoman for the CDU. The almost 200-page draft of the coalition agreement is entitled “One for all”. According to the draft coalition agreement, most of the ministries will go to the election winner, the CDU. The SPD as a junior partner will therefore receive the Department for Economic Affairs and Transport, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Department for Science and Culture. On January 18th, the new 21st Hessian state parliament will be constituted in Wiesbaden.
Prime Minister Boris Rhein of the CDU recently said that the coalition negotiations with the SPD were “very constructive and had an exceptionally pleasant atmosphere”. The broad process with around 200 participants in more than a dozen working groups has proven successful.
This Saturday, the CDU and SPD want to vote on the paper – the Christian Democrats at a meeting of their state committee in Frankfurt and the Social Democrats at a party conference in Groß-Umstadt in southern Hesse. Then the coalition agreement could be signed next Monday, as Rhein recently said.
In the past decade, Hesse was led by a black-green government. The CDU clearly won the state election on October 8th, after which it was able to comfortably choose between the Greens and the SPD as coalition partners. After exploratory talks, the Union decided to no longer work with the Greens but to strive for a black-red government alliance. Nancy Faeser, who was the SPD’s top candidate, wants to remain Federal Interior Minister and not move to Hesse.