In Berlin, the Greens and the SPD want to decide on Monday whether they will hold coalition talks with the Left. The three parties announced an agreement on an exploratory paper on Saturday. This makes a red-green-red alliance in the capital more likely. At the federal level, however, the parties are also expressing doubts about the ability of such a coalition to govern.
SPD politician Hubertus Heil said in the report from Berlin: "I have considerable doubts as to whether the Berlin Left Party is willing and able to govern." The former Federal Minister of Labor cited public safety as an example. "I've never understood why it would be particularly progressive or left-wing to weaken the police or the judiciary."
However, Heil refers his skepticism "specifically" to the Berlin Left - in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania he sees "a completely different left-wing party." Before responsibility can be assumed, things in the capital have to be clarified, said Heil. Specifically, he called for "a clear line on anti-Semitism" as well as a "clear commitment to internal security in this city and a sensible policy." Only if that happens are coalitions possible.
Heil is not alone in his party with his skepticism. In a joint statement available to "Spiegel", 20 SPD members of the Bundestag declared "significant doubts about the political reliability of this regional association" with regard to the Berlin Left. Among other things, they refer to allegations of anti-Semitism against individual left-wing members and contacts in the clan milieu.
The signatories emphasize the decision-making sovereignty of the Berlin SPD regional association. At the same time, however, they point out their “responsibility for the credibility of common social democratic principles”. “That is why, under the current conditions, we strongly oppose the start of coalition negotiations with the Berlin Left,” they write. According to “Spiegel”, the initiators of the declaration are the domestic policy spokesman Sebastian Fiedler and the digital policy spokesman Johannes Schätzl.
Brantner hopes for “authority” from Eralp
Green Party leader Franziska Brantner formulated clear expectations of possible red-green-red cooperation. In the report from Berlin, she said that the Berlin Left "obviously has a problem with anti-Semitism, also with proximity to organized crime." She referred to the Berlin Declaration of the three parties “to rule that out.”
She emphasized: "The expectation is now for all three that it must now be implemented consistently - otherwise it will not be possible to become a stable government." She hopes that Elif Eralp has “the authority” to enforce it. If the government fails, it would reflect badly on all three parties, said Brantner.
Heil and Brantner do not want to be equated with the AfD
Heil and Brantner agree on one point: the two federal politicians believe that comparing the Left with the AfD - as some representatives of the Union do - is wrong. “That cannot be equated without downplaying the problems facing the Left Party in Berlin,” said the Green Party leader.
Just yesterday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz clearly differentiated himself from both the AfD and the Left at the Junge Union's federal party conference. In the direction of the SPD and the Greens in Berlin, he said: "Anyone who wants to strengthen the political center should not have any conversations with left-wing radicals." And added: “Stop going down this path.”
Brantner sees Merz's comparison as an attempt to distract from "our own challenges". As examples, she cited events in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt - but also "what is happening in Berlin, where a CDU member is obviously seeking an alliance with the AfD at district level."
