Formation of government: Blackberry coalition in Thuringia overcomes major hurdle

The coalition agreement between the CDU, BSW and SPD in Thuringia is in place – what may be the first blackberry coalition in Germany is becoming increasingly likely. A good eleven weeks after the state elections, the leaders of the three parties agreed on the draft government contract. The negotiating teams said after a two-day meeting that fine work would still be completed by Thursday. The coalition agreement should be presented this Friday.

“Yes, there will be a new government,” said one of the negotiators to the dpa. Others spoke of a “forward-looking consensus” that had been reached. In the neighboring state of Saxony, negotiations between the CDU and SPD with the BSW failed.

The CDU, BSW and SPD have 44 of 88 seats in the Thuringian parliament. A blackberry coalition named after the party colors would therefore be dependent on at least one vote from the opposition – i.e. from the Left or AfD – when making decisions. The AfD is the largest faction in parliament.

Party conferences and member surveys follow

In Thuringia, the approval of the party committees of all three partners is still missing before a possible election of CDU leader Mario Voigt as Prime Minister in mid-December. The BSW has already announced a party conference for December 7th, which will focus on the members’ approval of the coalition agreement. Unlike the exploratory paper, party founder Sahra Wagenknecht this time received positive signals about the planned Thuringian coalition agreement. The SPD is planning a member survey. For the CDU, the state committee, a kind of small party conference, has to give its approval.

The previous negotiations in Thuringia were influenced by Wagenknecht’s peace policy demands. The namesake of the BSW was now satisfied with the development of the discussions. “The coalition agreement bears much more of the BSW’s signature on both state policy issues and foreign policy issues than the previous exploratory paper,” Wagenknecht told the dpa.

Wagenknecht sees improvements

“Thanks to the criticism and pressure from the Thuringian BSW base and the federal party, our negotiators were able to achieve significantly more because it became clear to the other parties: The BSW will only take part in a government that brings noticeable changes and improvements for the people of Thuringia and also positions itself on the question of war and peace,” said the BSW founder. The BSW in Thuringia also said that controversial points had been resolved and that there was no longer any disagreement between Erfurt and Berlin.

The three parties had agreed on a preamble to the coalition agreement, which addressed the issue of war and peace, but did not initially satisfy Wagenknecht. The BSW wanted to readjust. Now it was said that the BSW’s peace policy positions would also play a role in the text. There were clarifications.

Representatives of the three parties did not want to comment on the exact content before Friday. “We wouldn’t have left the negotiations if we hadn’t achieved a lot,” said a BSW representative. A total of 110 pages of paper were examined during the exam.

Projects and common goals established

According to those involved, the coalition agreement provides for concrete projects and goals in the areas of education, health, economy, migration, administrative modernization, social affairs and community development. “We have made a good start that will noticeably improve the lives of Thuringians,” said the partners simply. The discussions were goal-oriented and pragmatic. Everyone involved has shown “that they are acting in the interests of the country across party political boundaries.”

Government design has not yet been clarified

During the two-day meeting on Monday and Tuesday, the layout of the ministries was also said to have been discussed. In addition to the Prime Minister, Thuringia currently has eight specialist ministries and a head of the State Chancellery with ministerial rank. Negotiating circles said that the departmental layout had not yet been finally discussed. However, the current number of ministries will probably remain the same.

Ramelow for fairness agreements

Thuringia’s acting Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow, who wants to run for the Bundestag, once again called for a fairness agreement between possible coalition partners and his left in order to rule out “destructive majority decisions”. “We cannot leave the destructive things to the AfD,” said Ramelow. But the Left is not a “reserve pocket relief operation”.