In eastern Germany, the AfD was prevented from marching. On the road to forming a new government in Brandenburg, the SPD wants to start exploratory talks this week if possible – but this could be more difficult than expected.
The Social Democrats are open to talks with the CDU and BSW, SPD parliamentary group leader Daniel Keller said Monday on RBB Inforadio. In the state elections in the German state of Brandenburg, the SPD of Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke narrowly defeated the AfD and again became the strongest force. Woidke staged the election campaign as a pure duel.
SPD just ahead of the right-wing AfD
According to the preliminary official results, the prime minister and his SPD won 30.9 percent of the vote, achieving their stated goal of beating the AfD. But the far-right party also performed strongly with 29.2 percent.
The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which was founded only a few months ago, came in third with 13.5 percent, ahead of the CDU with 12.1 percent. The other traffic light parties were all expelled from parliament. The FDP received less than one percent of the vote.
Regarding the formation of a government, Keller said: “We want to make progress there in the coming weeks.” He does not want to have exploratory talks with the AfD. CDU top candidate Jan Redmann ruled out personal consequences. He does not want to resign as state chairman of the Christian Democrats after the election defeat. “That would send completely the wrong signal,” he said.
In general, CDU politicians are influenced by the election results. But they see the mistake with the SPD. Woidke’s strategy – us against the AfD – has weakened the democratic center. CDU MP Johann Wadephul said: “A few more mandates for the CDU and the Greens would have been more important than first place. So he (note Woidke) must govern together with the BSW.”
Traffic light badly damaged
In the debate over the continuation of the traffic light coalition at federal level, SPD Secretary General Kevin Kühnert called for a clear signal from the FDP on Monday. “It would be important for us that there is a clear word from the FDP leadership about where we stand,” Kühnert said in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”.
FDP Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki told Welt TV on election night that it would either be possible to “find a reasonable common denominator” in the traffic light coalition in the coming weeks, or that it no longer makes sense for the Free Democrats to continue participating in this coalition.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
