Berlin – In Berlin, the parties started coalition negotiations just four weeks after the election to the House of Representatives. Top politicians from the SPD, the Greens and the Left met on Friday morning in a conference center on Pariser Platz. The so-called umbrella group should meet regularly in the coming weeks and decide what will be included in the coalition agreement. The hard work takes place elsewhere.
On this windy Friday morning everyone was in Berlin’s good room: Franziska Giffey and the rest of the top of the SPD, Bettina Jarasch and the other key figures in the Greens, Katina Schubert and the other leaders of the Left. Before we started we went on a mini walk to the Brandenburg Gate. Such pictures can never hurt.
However, the leading Berlin state politicians did not have the decorative photo for themselves: Members of the citizens’ initiative “Volksentscheid Berlin car-free” and the “Deutsche Wohnen & Co. expropriate” initiative crowded into the picture. Accompanied by shouts such as “Implement referendum!”, The coalitionaries hurried to come back to the venue.
Franziska Giffey’s return to the place of triumph
There, in the conference center of the DZ-Bank designed by the architect Frank Gehry, at least Franziska Giffey and Raed Saleh should have felt at home straight away. It is exactly the place where they triumphantly announced the dismissal of SPD country leader Michael Müller in January 2020 and put themselves on the, well, throne together. The appointment of Giffey as the top candidate for the House of Representatives election was then only a matter of form.
Forms were also at stake at the beginning of these coalition negotiations. The tables in the negotiating room were arranged like a set square. On the front side sat the election winners from the SPD with Giffey and Saleh in the middle, on the thighs the other two negotiating delegations.
The agenda for the first day was also clearly defined. On the one hand, financial policy and budget planning should be discussed. On the other hand, they wanted to agree on the composition and goals of other working groups.
Tight schedule until the election of the governing mayor
That was necessary because the schedule for the coming days and weeks is tight. According to the previous clock, the government program for the continuation of the three-party coalition should be available until the end of November. In December, the finished coalition agreement must be confirmed by the party committees. To this end, party conferences of the Left (December 4th), the SPD (December 5th) and a state delegate meeting of the Greens (probably on December 12th) are planned. The left is also planning a membership decision.
If the coalition agreement is confirmed by the parties, it can still be signed in December. The House of Representatives would then elect Franziska Giffey as governing mayor. The senators would be appointed and sworn in at the same meeting. December 21st is being discussed as the date. It is high time: The current budget ends on December 31st.
16 working groups are to do detailed work
In order to be able to adhere to the schedule, 16 working groups should develop proposals on a wide range of topics. The most important ones include budget and finance, urban development, construction, renting, mobility and economics. The SPD, the Greens and the Left each send five to eight representatives to the working groups. They are all supposed to start negotiations on Monday. The so-called umbrella working group with the party leaders should meet again the next time at the end of next week.
The question remains about the content and, in the end, also about the chemistry of the people involved. So far, everyone has only commented positively in public. Nobody made an exception on this Friday either. In the joint paper by Red-Green-Red after the end of the explorations a week ago it said: “We are convinced that in this constellation we can shape trusting, reliable and constructive government work for the State of Berlin.” be measured.
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