SPD and Union begin explorations to form a new German government

Schulz meets for the first time with Green Party and FDP negotiators, Laschet advises the FDP, and Lindner increases pressure on Unio.

A week after the general election, the SPD and the Union will begin discussions on the formation of the future government on Sunday. SPD negotiators for Chancellor Olaf Schulz’s candidate have held separate talks with the Free Democratic Party and the Green Party. In the evening, union negotiators discussed Chancellor Armin Laschet (CDU) candidate with the FDP delegation about party leader Christian Lindner. The two smaller parties decide whether Schulze or Laschet will become chancellor.

Immediately before the first expeditionary tours, the FDP increased pressure on the Union. “The CDU and CSU should make clear if they really want to lead a government,” said FDP leader Lindner of Bild am Sonntag. “Some comments from the CDU speculate that negotiations with the SPD must fail before the CDU comes back into play. You cannot expect our country to do that.” With this, Lindner reported doubts about the Jamaica coalition consisting of the Union, the Greens, and the Free Democratic Party.

FDP Secretary-General Volker Wesing confirmed in the Funke Media Group newspapers (Sunday) that the FDP is in public talks with the Union and the Social Democratic Party. “We have our own core values ​​and an independent program that we want to implement. We need allies for that.” The future government must be progressive and ready for reform. The union demanded to clarify “whether they are together.”

CDU: “A great sense of responsibility”

“We are in talks with the FDP and the Greens with a great sense of responsibility,” Paul Zimyak, general secretary of the CDU, told Bild am Sonntag. “We want to contribute to a new future alliance to create something new for our country,” he added.

The Greens and the FDP met on Friday. After three hours of exploration, both sides showed unity. Lindner and the two leaders of the Green Party, Annalena Barbock and Robert Habeck, did not want to reveal the intermediate results of their deliberations. Schulz and the SPD, which won the federal election, rely on the Traffic Lights coalition with the Free Democratic Party and the Green Party. According to surveys, this alliance is viewed favorably by the majority of the population.

The FDP had favored a Jamaican coalition of Union, Liberals, and Greens. Laschet had made it clear that he wanted to form such an alliance despite the electoral disaster for the Federation. CDU/CSU slumped to as low as 24.1% in last Sunday’s federal election. SPD had the strongest strength at 25.7%. Greens came in as the third strongest force, at 14.8 percent. It comes behind the Free Democratic Party with 11.5 percent.

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