(New: Quotes from Steffen Krach)
BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Who will govern Berlin in the future remains an open question. Three and a half weeks after the state parliamentary election, the Left Party, Greens and Social Democrats still face several hurdles. But at least the exploratory talks, which were unexpectedly interrupted Tuesday evening, are continuing. The next meetings will take place on Thursday, "to discuss the central challenges facing our wonderful city," Left parliamentary group leader Elif Eralp announced.
The Left Party, Greens and Social Democrats have agreed to include their joint declaration on combating anti-Semitism in the coalition agreement if a government is formed, according to Eralp. "Today we met with the Greens and the SPD and had a good and open discussion. We agreed that the misunderstandings between us have been cleared up," the Left Party politician said yesterday evening. At the conclusion of the exploratory talks, the Left Party convention will decide whether coalition negotiations should begin.
On Tuesday, it appeared that the continuation of the talks was in immediate jeopardy. At the constituent meeting of the Left Party parliamentary group, all members present signed a declaration on combating anti-Semitism. In it, they affirmed their commitment to protecting Jewish life and Israel's right to exist, and rejected terrorist groups such as Hamas as well as anti-Semitic hate slogans. However, in many respects, the declaration did not correspond to what the Left Party, Greens and SPD had agreed on the previous week after lengthy discussions.
The Greens and SPD then announced that they would suspend the exploratory talks. In their view, only the joint agreement reached the previous week can serve as the basis for possible cooperation in government.
Opinions on the exploratory talks vary within all parties
The agreement also stipulates, among other things, what consequences anti-Semitic incidents involving parliamentary group members, for example, should have, up to and including expulsion. The affected parliamentary group would make the decision in each case. Some members of the Left Party reacted with strong opposition to the provisions in the joint so-called Berlin Declaration. The internal party dispute within the Left Party made talks with the Greens and SPD even more difficult.
However, opinions are also divided within the other two parties: There had been appeals in favor of a red-green-red coalition, including from the Young Socialists, while a group of influential Berlin SPD politicians around former state party leader Peter Strieder, among others, had argued against it.
Among the Greens, the executive committee of the party's district association in Berlin-Mitte expressly welcomed the suspension of the exploratory talks and called for other coalition options to be considered as well. Meanwhile, the Greens in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg called for the talks to resume immediately: "Berlin now needs a change in policy, and that can only happen with the Left Party, Greens and SPD."
SPD state party leader Steffen Krach explained on RBB's "Abendschau" why the talks had been suspended in the first place: "The paper that was adopted, or rather signed, by the Left Party yesterday is completely different from what we negotiated," he said.
"For example, our paper also includes a mechanism for expelling parliamentary group members. That was not included in yesterday's paper." The joint declaration also states that the police and domestic intelligence agency should be strengthened. However, this does not correspond to the Left Party's election platform, and it remains to be seen how delegates will vote on the matter at the Left Party convention. It was originally scheduled for this Friday, but has been postponed to October 31.
"It was a jolt"
Green parliamentary group leader Bettina Jarasch gave a positive assessment of the latest talks with the Left Party and SPD. "We have a clear agreement that our accord on anti-Semitism, which we have already reached, stands and that all three future partners stand 100% behind it," she said in the late edition of RBB's "Abendschau."
Jarasch viewed the suspension of the exploratory talks on Tuesday as a salutary experience: "It was a jolt. As of this evening, I would say it was a jolt that may have done all of us some good," she explained.
Debate over controversial Left Party lawmaker Vanessa Emde
Left Party lawmaker Vanessa Emde also caused controversy in recent days. The newly elected member of the Berlin state parliament from the Neukölln district organization had focused heavily on Palestinian solidarity during the election campaign and repeatedly sparked debate because of her critical positions toward Israel. She, too, signed the lawmakers' declaration after a lengthy discussion and is now part of the parliamentary group. However, the Greens and SPD had assumed that Emde would not be admitted to the parliamentary group because of her past statements and actions.
Krach said Thursday morning on "Radio Eins" that he did not want to comment on individual lawmakers, partly because he did not yet know all of them. The Left Party parliamentary group has 45 lawmakers, many of them new. "But of course we are watching very closely what is being communicated publicly."
Is the SPD politician optimistic, despite the conflicts between the parties, that governing together could work? "I would simply say that it's better for things to blow up during the exploratory talks than later when governing."/ah/DP/mis
