Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania election: SPD, Left and Greens are negotiating a coalition

The signs point to red-red-green in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: After two weeks of exploratory talks, the Green Party MPs have now also voted in favor of coalition negotiations to form a red-red-green state government. A small party conference in Rostock passed a corresponding resolution with no dissenting votes or abstentions. If the coalition negotiations lead to an agreement, it would be the first time for the Greens to be involved in a state government in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The SPD and the Left had already given the green light to start coalition negotiations on Friday. According to Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD), these should begin on Monday at eleven o'clock. The positions of ministers will be discussed at the very end, she said. Schwesig was satisfied with the exploratory discussions of the past few weeks: "They were very good discussions."

The AfD became the strongest force in the state elections on September 20th. However, with 32 seats, it does not have a majority in the Schwerin state parliament with a total of 71 members. The SPD (29), the Greens (5) and the Left (5) together have more than half of the seats. If they form a government, they will have 39 seats, three more than they need for a majority. The SPD, the Left and the Greens rule out any collaboration with the AfD.

The three parties have big plans. “We want to be more than an alliance of three parties,” said Schwesig. "We want to be there for everyone: in the city and in the country, for young and old, for our voters and also for those who are skeptical or who didn't vote for us."

According to the information, those involved in the explorations have already agreed on key projects for the next five years:

Daycare centers remain free of charge.

Schools are being modernized and teaching provision is being improved.

Hospital locations should be retained.

A thousand new dormitories are to be built or renovated for trainees and students.

There should be a discounted ticket for local public transport for young people.

Citizens should be more involved, for example with citizens' councils.

A parliamentary committee of inquiry is to look into right-wing extremist networks.

In order to implement all of this, an additional 1.9 billion euros from the special fund are to be used by 2035.

The coalition negotiations are to be led by a main group of top representatives of the three parties involved. Seven working groups will work on the individual subject areas: finance and digitalization, agriculture and climate protection, economy and energy, education and culture, social affairs and health, interior and local authorities as well as special topics (federal and European). In the end, state party conferences of all three parties will decide on the coalition agreement and the formation of the new state government.

There isn't much time left: the state parliament will meet for its constituent session on October 20th. The state constitution then gives four weeks to elect the Prime Minister. That would be November 17th at the latest. Manuela Schwesig has never left any doubt that she is aiming for her next term in office.