Formation of government: Brandenburg: SPD and BSW are about to enter into coalition negotiations

Five weeks after the state elections in Brandenburg, the SPD and BSW want to set the course for coalition negotiations. According to information from the German Press Agency, the exploratory groups of both parties want to announce on Monday that they are recommending negotiations to the party executives. The leaders of the regional associations of the SPD and BSW still have to agree to this. The “BZ” and “Bild” previously reported on it.

Such a coalition would be a novelty in Germany. Since the beginning of October, the SPD under Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke and the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) under state leader Robert Crumbach have been exploring a possible government coalition for Brandenburg. Both sides have generally assessed the talks as positive so far, although Crumbach said that it was sometimes difficult. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) expressed confidence about the talks between the SPD and BSW.

Only the SPD and BSW have a realistic majority in parliament after the state elections on September 22nd. No other party wants to form a coalition with the second strongest party, the AfD.

Wagenknecht made demands

Nothing has been known about the content of the discussions because both parties had agreed to secrecy. BSW boss Sahra Wagenknecht calls for a clear position on the deployment of US medium-range missiles and for a ceasefire between Russia and the invaded Ukraine. Wagenknecht is not directly at the negotiating table, but the BSW in Brandenburg says it is coordinating closely with her.

Woidke spoke with Saxony’s CDU Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer and Thuringia’s CDU leader Voigt in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” at the beginning of October in favor of more diplomatic engagement by Germany to end the Russian war against Ukraine. Wagenknecht described the article as an important contribution because it finally showed a different perspective instead of arms deliveries. Woidke later also made it clear that he still believes arms deliveries to Ukraine are necessary.

Consultations on Blackberry Coalition

In Saxony and Thuringia it is also about possible government participation, but here in a blackberry coalition, i.e. made up of the CDU, BSW and SPD. In Saxony, the exploratory talks were interrupted for the time being because MPs from the BSW parliamentary group also approved a request from the AfD for a Corona investigative committee in the state parliament.

In Thuringia, the project is in jeopardy: the search for a compromise on peace policy demands, which Wagenknecht made a prerequisite for the start of coalition negotiations, has so far been unsuccessful.