The Free Democratic Party (FDP) is ready for coalition talks with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Soyuz 90 / Greens party. The FDP board and its parliamentary faction voted unanimously for the adoption of the corresponding resolution on Monday, October 18, in Berlin.
A negotiating team led by Liberal leader Christian Lindner has made a recommendation to move from probing negotiations to coalition negotiations after last week three parties – Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals – adopted a document with the basic provisions for the creation of a government coalition “traffic light”, which received such a name because of the party colors of its potential members.
The other two parties have already expressed their readiness to negotiate the formation of a coalition government. The Social Democrats voted unanimously in favor of this on Friday, October 15, and the Greens, of whose 70 delegates at the “small congress” in Berlin, only two opposed and one abstained, voted in favor last Sunday with an absolute majority.
Liberals see traffic lights as opportunities and challenges
FDP General Secretary Volker Wissing, in an interview with Norddeutscher Rundfunk, expressed confidence that the coalition talks with the SPD and the Greens will be crowned with success. As the politician noted, Germany needs a stable federal government. And he has no doubts that the “traffic light” will be just that.
Meanwhile, some of his fellow party members believe that there will be many obstacles in the formation of a coalition government with the Social Democrats and the Greens. Liberals see in the “traffic light” coalition not only opportunities, but also problems, FDP chairman Christian Lindner said after a meeting of the governing bodies of the liberals in Berlin on Monday.
According to Lindner, there are differences of opinion between the three parties on certain issues, and this requires from all parties “a willingness to think in new ways.” At the same time, the results of the parliamentary elections in Germany showed “no shift to the left.” Therefore, the new government should be the government of the center, the leader of the German liberals noted.
It is not yet clear when exactly the coalition talks with the participation of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals will start. But, according to media sources in party circles, they may begin in the second half of this week.
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