Viet Reader.

VR.

Premier Newspaper for Vietnamese Worldwide

German SPD seeks allies to replace Merkel-led coalition

 
German SPD seeks allies to replace Merkel-led coalition

Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader and top candidate for chancellor Olaf Scholz and his wife Britta Ernst react after first exit polls the general elections in Berlin, Germany, September 26, 2021. (Photo: Reuters)   

Germany's Social Democrats were set on September 27 to start the process of trying to form a government after they narrowly won their first national election since 2005 to end 16 years of conservative-led rule under Angela Merkel.


The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) won 25.7% of the vote, ahead of 24.1% for Merkel's CDU/CSU conservative bloc, according to provisional results. The Greens came in at 14.8% and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) were on 11.5%.

The Social Democrats' chancellor candidate, Olaf Scholz said he hoped to strike a coalition deal before Christmas, although his Christian Democrat rival Armin Laschet, 60, said he could still try to form a government despite leading the conservatives to their worst ever election result. read more

Merkel will stay in charge in a caretaker role during the coalition negotiations that will set the future course of Europe's largest economy.

The parties will start sounding each other out on Monday about possible alliances in informal discussions.

The SPD is likely to seek an alliance with the Greens and the FDP to secure parliamentary majority, although the two parties could also team up with the conservatives.

SDP General Secretary Lars Klingbeil told ARD television, the party would fight to ensure Scholz becomes the next chancellor. "We won the election," he said.

The SPD will talk to the Greens and the FDP about forming the next government, Klingeil said, adding that party leadership was set to meet on Monday to discuss the next steps.

The Greens and FDP said last night, however, they would first talk to each other to sound out areas of compromise before starting negotiations with either the SPD and CDU.

If Scholz, 63, succeeds in forming a coalition, the finance minister in Merkel's cabinet and former mayor of Hamburg would become the fourth post-war SPD chancellor.

Paul Ziemiak, general secretary of Merkel's Christian Democrats, said there was still a chance for his party's alliance with the Greens and FDP, adding that Laschet knew how to keep coalitions together.


Reuters

About author
You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page.
View all posts
More on this story