Two and a half weeks after the election to the Berlin House of Representatives, efforts to form a government will continue on Wednesday. The Left as the election winner, the Greens and the SPD have come together for a third and possibly decisive so-called preliminary discussion.
The declared goal is to reach an understanding on the subject of anti-Semitism, how to deal with racism and organized crime. In view of several incidents on the Left, the Greens and the SPD had made this a prerequisite for exploratory talks to form a government.
Previous preliminary discussions with no visible result
In the past few days, top politicians from the three parties have already held two preliminary discussions on the topic. Details about the content were not known. Last weekend, the Left, the Greens and the SPD simply announced that they wanted to reach a result this week.
The meeting will take place in the House of Statistics in Berlin-Mitte. Party and parliamentary group leaders from the Left, the Greens and the SPD, among others, had already spoken to each other there. “Now we can move on,” said Left Party top candidate and parliamentary group leader Elif Eralp. Co-party leader Tobias Schulze added: “History is being made.”
Concern among the Greens and the SPD
Parts of the Berlin Left have long been criticized for their positions on Israel and Palestine and anti-Semitism. An election party of the Neukölln Left on September 20th caused a great stir, at which both the head of an Arab-born and partly criminal clan and a controversial pro-Palestinian activist were present. He is said to be close to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU.
The Neukölln Left Party member of the Bundestag Ferat Koçak is also under pressure because he exchanged friendly chat messages with a son of an extended family associated with the clan milieu. The previous week he announced that he would be giving up his seat on the Bundestag's Interior Committee as a result. “I am neither a criminal nor do I support organized crime,” he wrote on X.
open end
It remains to be seen whether a breakthrough will be achieved in the third preliminary discussion between the parties. Before starting explorations, the Greens and SPD insist on binding agreements and mechanisms, especially on the subject of anti-Semitism. Last but not least, it should be clarified how the Left will deal with future possible anti-Semitic incidents within its ranks and what consequences this would have within a possible coalition.
According to the parties, the fact that the third meeting falls on the anniversary of two historic events is purely coincidental. On October 7, 2023, the terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip and carried out an unprecedented massacre. The GDR was founded on October 7, 1949.
The Left was clearly the strongest party after the election
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 lost its majority. The Left is now relying on a red-green-red coalition. If that happens, she and her top candidate and co-parliamentary group leader Elif Eralp could nominate a governing mayor in Berlin for the first time.
The road there is still very long. Exploratory talks would be an important step, but are not yet coalition negotiations. Rather, those involved decide which points are particularly important to them and whether coalition negotiations would even be promising. Such conversations can also fail.
Celebrities from the CDU, Greens and SPD warn against red-green-red. In a “Berlin Appeal for Responsibility,” around 80 initial signatories write: “We must look for a government majority that reflects the interests of as broad a section of society as possible and that has common basic beliefs about the rule of law and democracy. We don’t see that happening with a red-green-red government.”
The appeal continues: “We fear that a government led by the Berlin Left will create a climate in which the safety of Jews in Berlin can no longer be guaranteed.”
Co-initiator Volker Beck published the document that was first reported by the “Tagesspiegel”. The signatories include former Bundestag President Wolfgang Thierse (SPD), ex-Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer (Greens) and the former head of the Chancellery Peter Altmaier (CDU). Well-known representatives of the Jewish community also signed the appeal, including the former representative for the Stasi documents, Marianne Birthler, the former SPD state leader Martin Hikel and several former city senators.
