After the Berlin SPD approved the jointly negotiated coalition agreement, it is now the turn of the CDU. At a party conference, the Christian Democrats will decide on it today. If there is a majority, as expected, the way is clear for a black-red state government.
Today both parties want to inform about the distribution of departments. The coalition agreement is to be signed on Wednesday, and CDU state chairman Kai Wegner is to be elected the first governing mayor of his party since 2001 in the House of Representatives on Thursday. In the membership vote of the Social Democrats, there was a narrow majority for black and red: 54.3 percent of the comrades in the capital who took part voted yes, as the party announced yesterday.
intra-party conflict
The alliance was highly controversial in the SPD. In particular, the two state chairmen, Raed Saleh, and Franziska Giffey, currently still the governing mayor, had campaigned for black and red, but also felt a lot of resistance.
Giffey declared that she was willing to give up her position as governing mayor for a coalition with the CDU, which she would have kept had the red-green-red continued. She is expected to become a Senator after grassroots approval of the coalition deal. It is likely that Giffey will succeed Economics Senator Stephan Schwarz. He had announced at the weekend that he would be retiring from politics. The SPD and CDU have agreed that both parties will each receive five Senate posts and that the CDU will also provide the Governing Mayor.
It is an open question whether Giffey and Saleh, who have been at the head of the national association as a duo since the end of 2020, will manage to close the rifts in the party. Several SPD district associations had spoken out against a black-red state government. The Jusos organized a campaign against black and red and called for members to vote no.
Jusos: “Critical support for government action in solidarity”
Berlin’s Juso Chairwoman Sinem Taşan-Funke told the German Press Agency that the result of the member vote was extremely close. But it is clear that it is to be accepted. “We Jusos will continue to support the SPD’s government actions in a critical and solidarity manner,” she announced. In addition, the discussion must continue about how the SPD can get a reorganization. “And that the party leadership must make an authentic offer, both in terms of content and personnel, that we, as the SPD, remain an independent part of this coalition and remain recognizable as a left-wing people’s party.”
Saleh and Giffey had repeatedly emphasized that the coalition agreement had a clear social democratic signature. The SPD’s next party conference is scheduled for May. Then it will become clear how great the criticism of the two state chairmen is.
