Germany's Scholz hopes for government by Christmas, slept well after election night

Record ID: 1638777

  • Title: Germany's Scholz hopes for government by Christmas, slept well after election night
  • Date: 27th September 2021
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 27, 2021) (REUTERS) SCHOLZ SPEAKING SCHOLZ HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (German) SPD CHANCELLOR HOPEFUL OLAF SCHOLZ, SAYING: "If three parties get together who all agree on wanting to see Germany moving forward in to the 20s then it can be something good even if they have differing starting points and we want to bring this together and into place in a constructive way. And we have seen that the public have given us a mandate to make a serious go at driving this forward."
  • Embargoed: 11th October 2021 11:39
  • Keywords: FDP German election Greens Olaf SCholz SPD coaltion
  • Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • City: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Europe,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA009EWHVMFB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Olaf Scholz, the German Social Democrat (SPD) candidate to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel, aims to reach an agreement to form a coalition government with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) before Christmas, he said on Monday (September 27).
    "My idea is that we will be very fast in achieving a result. It should be before Christmas if possible," he said a day after national elections.
    Answering a journalist's question in English, Scholz said a government led by him would offer the United States continuity in transatlantic relations.
    "The transatlantic partnership is of essence for us in Germany and for a government that will be led by me. So you can rely on continuity in this question," adding that even though he would focus no gaining more sovereignty for the EU, "It is important that we understand ourselves as democracies and that we see that in a world that is becoming more dangerous it is important that we work together, even if we do have conflicts in one or the other question," he added.
    In a humorous swipe at petrol shortages in the UK caused by a lack of truck drivers, Scholz said: "The free movement of labour is part of the European Union and we worked very hard to convince the British not to leave the Union. Now they decided different and I hope that they will manage the problems from that... If you understand that being a trucker is something which many people really like to be and you find not enough this has something to do with working conditions," Scholz said smiling after being asked whether Germany would send over any drivers to help.
    Germany's Social Democrats will now start the process of trying to forge a three-way alliance and lead a government for the first time since 2005 after they narrowly won Sunday's national election, with Scholz promising 'stability.'
    The SPD won 25.7% of the vote, ahead of 24.1% for Merkel's CDU/CSU conservative bloc, according to provisional results. The Greens came in at 14.8% and the FDP were on 11.5%.
    It is not yet clear who will lead the next German government as no party has a majority of votes and the main parties now need to start negotiations to form a coalition.
    (production: Tanya Wood, Oliver Barth, Oliver Denzer)
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