The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) moved one step closer to leading Germany’s next government on Wednesday, signing the Greens and the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) to coalition talks after an inconclusive national election.
SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz said talks would begin on Thursday in what he called a very constructive preliminary discussion. He said the voters had given the three parties the mandate to form the government, which they now need to fulfill.
The September 26 federal ballot, in which no party won an overall majority and the SPD dropped outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives to second place, has triggered a round of horse-drawing.
the parties decide
Unlike many other European countries, where the president or monarch invites the leader of a party to try to form a government, in Germany, it is up to the parties to decide.
Both the SPD and conservatives have pushed the two smaller parties – which finished third and fourth – to try to seize power in a potentially drawn-out coalition-building process.
Germany’s political future is at stake after 16 years in which Merkel is at the helm, the extent of her appetite for the digital age to shape Europe’s largest economy and her willingness to follow her lead on global issues.
FDP leader Christian Lindner said his party, which has much policy overlap with conservatives, shared with the Greens “a mutual belief that renewal must happen in this country”. He said the FDP has agreed to negotiate with the SPD to try to advance Germany.
Conservative faction leader Armin Lasquet said his party respected that decision, but at the same time was “ready to be a participant in the dialogue”.