Schwerin. The signs point to red-red-green in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: After two weeks of exploratory talks, the negotiators from the SPD, the Left and the Greens have recommended that their parties begin coalition negotiations for the first three-party alliance in the history of the federal state. In the evening, the committees of the SPD and the Left agreed.
The Greens want to decide on Saturday in Rostock at a small state party conference. If they also agree to start coalition negotiations, they should start on Monday at 11 a.m., as the SPD state chairwoman, Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig, announced. The positions of the ministers will be discussed at the very end. 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 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.” The chairman of the Left regional association and the new Left parliamentary group in the state parliament, Hennis Herbst, referred to the planned greater citizen participation in the state, for example with citizens' councils.
According to the information, those involved in the explorations have already agreed on key projects for the next five years. “With the MV plan, an additional 1.9 billion euros will flow from the special fund into the modernization of the country by 2035,” said the negotiators. “The daycare center remains free of charge, schools will be further modernized and the teaching provision will be improved.” The partners want to work to maintain all hospital locations and create 1,000 new or renovated dormitory places for trainees and students.
The projects also include a discounted youth ticket for local public transport, more citizen participation and a parliamentary committee of inquiry into right-wing extremist networks. The latter was included in the exploratory paper at the instigation of the Left, as Herbst told the German Press Agency. The SPD, the Left and the Greens rule out any collaboration with the AfD - the only opposition party in the new Schwerin state parliament.
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 to forge the three-way alliance. The state parliament meets 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. The SPD politician Schwesig has never left any doubt that she is aiming for her next term in office.
