Berlin SPD and Greens vote to open coalition talks with the Left party

Two parties back talks with the Left

The Berlin SPD board voted on Monday, 19 October, to open coalition negotiations with the Left and the Greens. Handelsblatt, citing party circles, reported 26 votes in favour and three against, with no abstentions. The Greens followed the same evening at a small party conference, where only two delegates voted against. The step came after the three parties finished exploratory talks at the weekend and presented a joint paper, the Sondierungspapier, on Saturday, 17 October. The Left has yet to decide, because its party conference is set for 31 October, after Berlin's two-week autumn school holidays. If the Left agrees, coalition talks could begin in early November.

A Left win built on rents

The Left took 25.7% of the vote in the Berlin state election on 20 September, ahead of the CDU on 18.8%, the AfD on 16.3%, the Greens on 14.3% and the SPD on 12.1%. The SPD posted its worst result on record. The previous CDU-SPD coalition has lost its majority. A red-green-red government would make Left parliamentary group leader Elif Eralp the first governing mayor from her party in Berlin. The Left campaigned on the housing market and more than doubled its 2023 result.

Left25.7%

CDU18.8%

AfD16.3%

Greens14.3%

SPD12.1%

Left

25.7 %

CDU

18.8 %

AfD

16.3 %

Greens

14.3 %

SPD

12.1 %

Data from the article text

Antisemitism and pressure from the federal level

The debate over antisemitism in parts of the Left overshadowed the talks. Handelsblatt reported that 20 SPD members of the Bundestag group first signed a joint statement against a coalition with the Left, and a signatory said the number had since reached 25. SRF reported that several SPD federal MPs had urged the Berlin party not to govern with the Left. The CDU, the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, is angry because a CDU, Green and SPD coalition would also be arithmetically possible. Greens state chair Nina Stahr said the Left has a problem with antisemitism in parts of the party.

The joint Berliner Erklärung commits the three parties to protecting Jewish life, to Israel's right to exist and to a two-state solution. Under the draft, breaches could bring sanctions up to expulsion from the parliamentary group. Some Left politicians have repeatedly made statements critical of Israel, and the Berlin party faces criticism over contacts between some members and clan networks.

Housing plan and dissent among the Greens

The most controversial project nationally is the Left's plan to socialise about 160,000 private flats, transferring them from private to public ownership. Die Welt reported that the flats belong to five large companies. The state would have to pay billions in compensation, and it is unclear whether the plan can clear legal hurdles. All three possible partners back the proposal. Werner Graf, the Greens' parliamentary group leader, listed wins in the joint paper, including more cycle lanes, better local transport, no extension of the A100 motorway and more traffic-calmed residential zones.

“A new era will dawn in transport policy.”

Not all Greens were persuaded. Madlen Ehrlich, a member of the Mitte district board, said the party is growing ever more similar to the Left.

“We hardly differ from them anymore.”

Claudio Struck, one of the two delegates who voted against, called the project a Himmelfahrtskommando, a German idiom for a reckless venture, and described the Left as unpredictable.