On Sunday the SPD wants to sound out the chances for a traffic light coalition with the Greens and the FDP!
SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz has condemned his party leadership to silence: No political hurdles, no “red lines” should disrupt confidential talks with “friends” of the FDP and the Greens.
Scholz insists that the SPD and the Greens tick similarly in many respects: minimum wage, speed limit, climate policy, debt brake light – the Baerbock / Habeck team will hardly argue with him about this.
It becomes more delicate with domestic politics, the coal phase-out, the rapid rise in CO2 prices, which the Greens want – the FDP, on the other hand, strictly rejects it. Here Scholz can hope that the FDP pulls the most poisonous stings on the Greens.
► Scholz’s calculation: The green and yellow “Chancellor Makers” grind their most difficult demands from each other in preliminary negotiations. He, Scholz, can then nod off the negotiated proposals as the clearer – or stop them.
In any case, the SPD candidate has a bait in hand: FDP AND Greens would like to occupy the office of Federal President. The new election is due in February 2022.
One applicant is already traded in party circles: Ex-Green parliamentary leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt (55). The East German Protestant would be the first woman on the post. And Germany has never had a green Federal President either.
The problem: The incumbent head of state, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (65), announced early on at the end of May that he would apply for a second term. But because of Steinmeier’s wishes, Scholz is unlikely to let his ascent to Federal Chancellor fail …
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