But even if everything goes smoothly in the upcoming rounds of talks, the parties still have to complete a veritable marathon before the formation of the new German government.
On Monday, the SPD, the Greens and the FDP will begin “in-depth explorations”. They have planned ten hours for this, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. – time enough to address controversial details. Another four-hour exploratory discussion is planned for Tuesday morning. After that there will be a break because the SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz has to travel to Washington to attend a meeting of finance ministers.
After Scholz’s return, the top talks should continue on Friday. On Wednesday and Thursday, the traffic light parties want to stay in touch at the secretary general level.
If the prospect of forming a joint government emerges from the explorations, the way is clear for official coalition negotiations: Then things really get into the details. Already after the last federal elections there was a trend towards more thorough coalition deliberations in order to make the later governance less conflict-prone.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the coalition negotiations will drag on forever. Four years ago, the negotiations on a new edition of Black-Red, which began after the Jamaica explorations had failed, began on January 26, 2018. And on February 7, 2018, the leaders of the Union and the SPD were able to present a negotiated coalition agreement.
- Constituent session of the Bundestag:
It is the only fixed factor in the appointments after the election. Because the Basic Law stipulates that the newly elected parliament must meet for the first time no later than 30 days after the election – that would be October 26th. This also officially ends the term of office of the previous ministers and the Federal Chancellor. However, according to the Basic Law, at the request of the Federal President, you are then obliged to continue in your office until the successor is appointed.
In any case, the Greens want their members to decide on a negotiated coalition agreement and the personnel table in an online ballot. The SPD is also considering getting the vote of the grassroots. At the FDP, a federal party congress must approve the coalition agreement.
If the coalition agreement is perfect and there is clarity about the allocation of responsibilities, things can go very quickly. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier proposes a candidate for the office of Federal Chancellor, who is elected in the Bundestag without debate. The ministers are usually appointed on the day of the election.
The parties want to get the new government wrapped up before Christmas – according to the current signs of willingness to agree, this is not an unrealistic undertaking.
