Franziska Giffey speaks out in favor of the SPD's participation in government in Berlin

The incumbent Senator for Economic Affairs, Franziska Giffey, has spoken out in favor of the SPD's participation in government in Berlin. “If you can govern, you should govern,” said Giffey in an interview with the “Berliner Morgenpost” and referred to a former SPD chairman: “I agree with the words of Franz Müntefering: “Opposition is crap.” You don't get stronger if you don't take responsibility."

Giffey demanded that a broad base of the SPD should be involved in the decision as to whether there would be a coalition with the Left and the Greens. “I am of the opinion that the party committees alone should not decide whether the SPD enters into such a coalition.” As with the Left and the Greens, there should be a vote from the broad base, emphasized the SPD politician.

High hurdles for SPD participation

The 48-year-old also sees the formation of a government as a question of direction for the capital. There are “very different ideas” from her party and the left about the direction in which Berlin should develop.

Giffey sees high hurdles for forming a government and names three thematic blocks: dealing with anti-Semitism and organized crime, combined with the position on the police. “And thirdly: We obviously have fundamentally different assessments of the financial possibilities of this city,” explained Giffey. “We are heading for an immense budget deficit,” she added, referring to a court ruling on high back payments for civil servants’ salaries. “This deficit must be solved.”

Explorations remain open

Preliminary talks between the Left, the Greens and the SPD continued over the weekend without a clear result. The talks should therefore continue next week, as all three sides announced after their second meeting on Saturday. It remains unclear whether the parties will enter into exploratory talks about forming a government in Berlin.

The core topic of these so-called preliminary discussions, which were held for the first time last Thursday, is the left's recently hotly debated handling of anti-Semitism. The Greens and SPD had made this a prerequisite for exploratory talks. The background to this is several incidents involving the Left as election winners, which have also caused concern among potential coalition partners.

In the election for the Berlin House of Representatives on September 20th, the Left was by far the strongest force with 25.7 percent. They were followed by the CDU (18.8 percent), AfD (16.3 percent), the Greens (14.3 percent) and the SPD (12.1 percent). The previously ruling CDU/SPD coalition has therefore lost its majority. The Left is now relying on a red-green-red coalition.