After the explorations in Berlin between the Left Party, the SPD and the Greens, sharp criticism is again coming from the Union. The domestic policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group in Berlin, Burkard Dregger, said on WELT TV that the SPD is submitting to the Left Party. He explained: "I almost fear that it's not just a fool's errand, but they've submitted to them." The CSU regional group leader in the Bundestag, Alexander Hoffmann, had previously said in an interview with “Politico” that the Berlin SPD had “fallen for the left”.
The Berlin exploratory paper “does not provide any answers” to the “challenges of left-wing terrorism, right-wing terrorism and Islamist terrorism,” explained Dregger. He continued: "The economy is at risk because it is threatened by expropriations. This will lead to investments taking place around Berlin, but no longer in Berlin."
If cooperation between the Left Party, the SPD and the Greens fails, the CDU is still ready for talks with the Social Democrats, emphasized Dregger. "We have a responsibility for our country. And I advise you to decide today not to enter into coalition negotiations with the Left," he said to the SPD.
The Left Party, SPD and Greens completed the explorations at the state level on Saturday. Their joint paper states, among other things: “We are strongly committed to the introduction of active and passive voting rights at local and state level within the scope of our competences for all people after five years of residence in Germany.” This would also include foreigners from countries outside the EU. Participation in Berlin should never be a question of passport, the three parties justified the project. We stand together for a “solidaristic migration society”.
The deputy chairman of the Union faction in the Bundestag, Günter Krings (CDU), considers the plans for voting rights for foreigners to be unconstitutional. “Berlin deserves something better than a coalition that violates the Basic Law with its first exploratory paper,” he told the German Press Agency.
In addition, the Left, SPD and Greens agreed on the socialization of housing companies, for which heavily indebted Berlin should provide up to 16 billion euros. The SPD rejected this during the election campaign and at the federal level. In addition, the Berlin education administration should no longer cooperate with the Bundeswehr.
The Greens and SPD in Berlin will decide on Monday evening whether to start coalition negotiations with the Left. The Greens have called a small party conference in the evening (8 p.m.). The SPD will decide on this at a digital meeting of its state executive board. The basis is an exploratory paper that the three parties presented at the weekend.
The Left will not make its decision about starting coalition negotiations until a party conference on October 31st. The reason is the two-week autumn holidays in Berlin. If approved, coalition talks can begin at the beginning of November.
Possible coalition negotiations are met with sharp criticism nationwide. Hesse's Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) also criticized the Berlin parties' exploratory paper. He wrote on
Hoffmann saw his federal coalition partner hurt by the Berlin talks. “All three coalition partners agreed in the coalition agreement that we would exclude any cooperation with anti-constitutional and anti-democratic parties at all political levels,” he told Politico. “Unfortunately, the SPD in Berlin has now left this path by unnecessarily bringing a party of Jew-hatred, anti-police and clan-friendliness to power.”
The radical fringes want to drive the parties in the center apart, said Hoffmann. Their goal is to make the middle ungovernable and to further fuel polarization in society. "I note that the CDU and CSU are the only remaining parties that oppose this polarization. The SPD has hereby forfeited its right to moral advice to others."
SPD General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf defended himself against criticism from the Union. The SPD needs “no instruction” from outside, said Klüssendorf on Monday in Berlin. The “comrades in Berlin” could “decide independently” about a possible coalition with the Left and the Greens.
20 SPD members of the Bundestag issued a joint statement against a possible coalition between their party and the Left in Berlin. “Our values compass is never negotiable,” is the headline of the paper by 20 members of the SPD parliamentary group on the formation of a government in the capital. SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch confirmed in the ARD program “Caren Miosga” that 20 SPD MPs had made critical comments.
