- Title: German Green party up for traffic light coalition, but keeping all options open
- Date: 27th September 2021
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 27, 2021) (CORONAPOOL) VARIOUS OF BAERBOCK AND GREEN PARTY CO-LEADER ROBERT HABECK ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE BAERBOCK AND HABECK POSING FOR MEDIA START OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GREEN PARTY CO-LEADER, ROBERT HABECK, SAYING: "There are talks in progress and they should be taken seriously, and what this means is that we must make sure that a government is formed that is most determined to follow the closest course to our programme and can achieve the most progress. But certainly and in light of the last hours where the Union (CDU/CSU) has been in the process of moving away from being able to govern there is a certain logic to carrying out talks with the SDP and the FDP. But this doesn't mean that we won't also talk with the Union." BAERBOCK AND HABECK DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GREEN PARTY CO-LEADER, ROBERT HABECK, SAYING: "Of course we would have liked a government of the SPD and the Greens but it hasn't happened and now we all have to govern together. So it makes sense to think about whether parties that are far apart in ideology can somehow come together and build a bridge between each other or have mutual projects that maybe become clear through talking rather than only thinking about differences." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (German) GREEN PARTY CO-LEADER ROBERT HABECK, SAYING: "There are worse things that could happen to Germany, than for it to experience something new for a new time. It could actually have the quality of making politics attractive again. It is a hard thing to put into place and needs a lot of work including thinking about how election campaigns and debates have been carried out in the past, to think about people that one previously found dumb and now may have to spend a lot of time with during cabinet. And then attitudes have to change as the cabinet has to work as a team. But hey, this could be a chance for something new. Germany, hello, wake up and try something new. It's actually a quite cool situation." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 11th October 2021 15:33
- Keywords: CDU/CSU FDP German election Green party SPD coalition talks exploratory talks
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Europe,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA002EWHVCXZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Germany's Green party on Monday (September 27) made clear that a so-called traffic light cabinet was certainly on the table as all parties grappled for influence in the next government.
Germany faces months of tough negotiations to form a coalition government after the federal election on Sunday, with three parties needing to team up to clear the threshold of 50% of all seats in the Bundestag after the vote.
After Olaf Scholz's centre-left Social Democrats came first, they said they would seek to form a coalition with the Greens and the FDP.
The SPD and the Greens, which ruled together from 1998 to 2005 under Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, broadly agree on environment policy and on raising taxes and social spending, though the Greens are far more hawkish on Russia policy.
But if the SPD is to reclaim the chancellery for the first time since 2005 they will also need to get the liberal Free Democrats on board to form a "traffic light" coalition, so-called due to the party colours of red, green and yellow.
FDP leader Christian Lindner has sounded cool on the possibility, saying legalising cannabis is about the only thing his party could easily agree with the SPD and Greens.
While the liberals are far to the right of the SPD and Greens on economics, they might compromise if it means they win control of the Finance Ministry.
The traffic light is the obvious option and also follows logically from the results of the election, because the SPD is ahead of the Union, said the co-leader of the Greens, Robert Habeck, on Monday in Berlin. However, all options would have to be explored, including talks with the Union.
Habeck is clearly strengthened within his party by the Bundestag election result - also in the internal relationship with the candidate for chancellor, Annalena Baerbock.
The Greens achieved a record result of 14.8 percent in Sunday's election however, as the third-strongest force in the country, they are a long way from the leadership of the government they were aiming for. In polls a few months ago, they were seen as almost twice as strong.
At press conferences, Habeck and Baerbock usually share the right to speak meticulously; as a candidate for chancellor, Baerbock has recently usually been in the foreground. On Monday it was just the opposite, Habeck was clearly in the focus at the federal press conference. In parts of the party, it is said that Habeck will probably get first access to a ministry and could also become vice chancellor.
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