Berlin parties begin talks about forming a government after the Left's election victory

One and a half weeks after the Berlin election, talks about forming a government in the capital will start on Thursday (11 a.m.). Top politicians from the Left, as election winners, as well as from the Greens and SPD initially meet for a “preliminary discussion”: They aim to reach joint agreements on the recently hotly debated topic of anti-Semitism, how to deal with racism and organized crime.

The Greens and the Left had declared such an agreement to be a “basic prerequisite” for the start of exploratory talks. The background to this are incidents on the left that caused great concern, especially among potential coalition partners. At an election party for the Neukölln Left on September 20th, both the head of an Arab-born and partly criminal clan and a controversial pro-Palestinian activist were present.

In the election for the Berlin House of Representatives on September 20th, the Left was by far the strongest force with 25.7 percent. The party now wants to forge a red-green-red coalition. With her top candidate and co-parliamentary group leader Elif Eralp, she could nominate a governing mayor in Berlin for the first time.