Berlin Left rejects Merz warning as red-green-red coalition talks continue
Left co-chair Elif Eralp called Chancellor Friedrich Merz's public warnings against a Left-led Berlin government unacceptable. The Left wants exploratory talks with the Greens and SPD concluded by Friday, 16 October, but has postponed its party conference to 31 October.
Left rejects Merz's intervention
Elif Eralp, co-chair of the Left parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives, pushed back on Tuesday, 13 October, against public warnings from Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) about a government led by her party in Berlin. Speaking before a group meeting in the Abgeordnetenhaus, she objected to the chancellor's public comments on the coalition talks.
What in my view is not acceptable is that a Mr Chancellor Merz is interfering here in the talks on forming a government in Berlin.
Eralp went on to say that the Left had won the election clearly and had been given a mandate by voters to make Berlin affordable again, stop "rent gouging", socialise large housing companies and secure social cohesion. She said that she and her party still felt bound by that mandate. She described the talks with the Greens and SPD as intensive, but also good, and said the sides had found many common ground on these topics.
Coalition talks and timetable
The Left wants a red-green-red coalition and could, with Eralp, put a woman in the office of governing mayor of Berlin for the first time. Exploratory talks with the Greens and SPD have been running since early October. According to people in the negotiations, the talks have progressed well, but difficult points remain. The unofficial aim is to bring them to a conclusion by Friday, 16 October, so that coalition negotiations can begin.
The Left has moved a party conference originally planned for Friday to 31 October. The conference is to approve an exploratory result and authorise the start of coalition talks. The shift relates to deadlines, for example for motions, and does not mean the exploratory talks will run for another two weeks. Autumn holidays in Berlin begin from the weekend of 17 and 18 October, and many politicians and conference delegates will be out of the city.
- Left group meets; Eralp rejects Merz's warning
- Unofficial target for concluding exploratory talks with Greens and SPD
- Rescheduled Left party conference to approve exploratory result and begin coalition talks
Merz's warning to the SPD and Greens
Merz had urged the SPD and the Greens not to enter a coalition with the Left in Berlin. He called it "this left-radical party" and said talks with it must be ended immediately. Otherwise, he said, the matter would also strain the black-red coalition at federal level. Merz also spoke of widespread antisemitism within the party.
Antisemitism dispute inside the Left
Parts of Berlin's Left have repeatedly faced criticism over their positions on Israel and Palestine and on antisemitism. In early October, the Left, the Greens and the SPD in Berlin agreed how they would handle antisemitic incidents within the Left if a coalition is formed. The agreement envisages sanctions up to expulsion from the parliamentary group, and it has caused friction within the Left. A dpa report says the Left group in the Berlin House of Representatives has signed an antisemitism declaration, stating that it explicitly commits to the fight against antisemitism.
