The parliamentary group leadership in Berlin wanted to discuss how to deal with the controversial MP, but she called in sick before the meeting.
The Greens and the SPD want to start coalition negotiations in Berlin with the election winner, the Left Party. At a small Green party conference that evening, a large majority voted in favor; only two of the 45 delegates voted against it. The SPD state executive committee had previously decided to hold coalition talks at a digital meeting - according to SZ information, with 26 yes votes (and three no votes). However, an SPD membership decision on a red-green-red coalition should also be examined.
The Left will only decide on coalition negotiations at a party conference on October 31st. The reason is the two-week autumn holidays in Berlin. If approved, coalition talks could begin at the beginning of November.
The Left, the Greens and the SPD agreed on the exploratory paper presented on Saturday in what were at times laborious negotiations. The discussion about consistent action against anti-Semitism, fueled by several incidents in the ranks of the left, made the talks more difficult.
A joint statement on the subject of anti-Semitism, which the three parties agreed on before the explorations began, should be included in the coalition agreement if a government is formed. Red-Green-Red is committed to protecting Jewish life, Israel's right to exist and a two-state solution that should enable both Israel's security and the self-determination of the Palestinians. Sanctions up to and including exclusion from the parliamentary group are envisaged for violations of the agreed principles.
The leadership of the Left parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives has not yet found a solution on how to further deal with MP Vanessa Emde, who is controversial because of her criticism of Israel. A spokesman said the parliamentary group's executive board discussed the matter in a digital meeting. Emde, who was invited, called in sick. The parliamentary group executive committee has now invited Emde back to the next meeting next Tuesday.
Emde entered the House of Representatives for the first time in the election on September 20th. During the election campaign, she focused on the issue of Palestine solidarity and sparked discussions several times because of her positions critical of Israel. During the election campaign, Emde represented, among other things, the thesis that there is no right to exist for states, but only for people.
Last Thursday she explicitly repeated this in an Instagram video. “I stand by my statements and I don’t take back any of them.” The group leadership then declared that they no longer saw any basis for cooperation with her. Emde could face expulsion from the parliamentary group.
Migrant associations are calling on the federal and state governments to take precautions to protect minorities in the event of an AfD-led government in Saxony-Anhalt. “In the coming weeks, a party could co-govern in Saxony-Anhalt for the first time, whose state association is classified as definitely right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution,” says an open letter to Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and the heads of government of the states. “To date, there is no concept to protect the people who would be threatened by such a government.”
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius criticizes the plans of the Left, the Greens and the SPD in Berlin, according to which the Bundeswehr should no longer go to schools. It was “completely incomprehensible to end a cooperation agreement that was only concluded in June of this year,” the SPD politician told the Tagesspiegel.
In a joint statement, 20 SPD members of the Bundestag object to a possible coalition between their party and the Left in Berlin. “Our values compass is never negotiable,” is the title of the paper by members of the SPD parliamentary group on the formation of a government in the capital.
The SPD politician Franziska Giffey has spoken out against the Red-Green-Red's plans to socialize 160,000 apartments belonging to large corporations. She writes via Instagram: “I don’t think socialization is the right way to move our city forward, achieve further above-average economic growth and create sufficient affordable housing.”
Berlin's CDU state leader Stefan Evers sharply criticized the red-green-red exploratory paper. “The exploratory paper is one thing above all: a declaration of capitulation by the SPD and the Greens to a radical, partly anti-Semitic left-wing party,” explained Evers.
