독일 Merkel "Next government to form faster than 4 years ago"... Speed of coalition talks

▲Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD)-led "traffic light" (Social Democrats - Red, Free Democratic Party - Yellow, Green Party - Green) coalition negotiations, following the SPD's victory in the German general election, are expected to gain full momentum starting next week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel predicted that the next coalition government would be formed faster than the grand coalition four years ago.

According to S?ddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and others on the 8th (local time), the SPD, the Green Party advocating climate change response, and the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) have decided to actively engage in negotiations next week to form the traffic light coalition government. They plan to meet on the 11th, 12th, and 15th for talks. The SPD expects that a conclusion can be reached by the end of next week.

Following the first negotiation held in Berlin the previous morning, the three parties reportedly succeeded in building trust and consensus for forming the coalition.

SPD Secretary-General Lars Klingbeil said, "It was a meeting marked by a strong will to accomplish something together," adding, "We discussed all topics."

Volker Wissing, Secretary-General of the FDP, said, "Today's negotiations gave us courage," explaining that all FDP leadership agreed to deepen coalition talks.

Michael Kellner, Secretary-General of the Green Party, said, "The meeting was very amicable, and a foundation of trust was established," adding, "Solutions will be found."

Chancellor Merkel forecasted that the formation of the next coalition would accelerate.

She said, "I am confident that the coalition will be formed faster than after the 2017 general election."

At that time, after the September election, coalition talks for the "Jamaica" coalition (CDU - Black, FDP - Yellow, Green Party - Green) led by the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), to which Merkel belongs, were halted, and the grand coalition was resumed, resulting in the next coalition government being formed only in March of the following year.

Meanwhile, Armin Laschet, the CDU/CSU coalition's chancellor candidate and CDU leader, who has also declared his intention to lead coalition formation despite the SPD's election victory, hinted at the possibility of resigning as party leader.

He insisted that the Jamaica coalition would still be more beneficial for Germany than the traffic light coalition, stating, "If coalition talks can be better conducted with someone else, I am willing to do so."

He emphasized, "The goal of doing what is beneficial for our country is more important than personal interests."

He also announced that he would propose personnel reforms within the CDU next week, aiming to renew leadership from the top down through the entire central party.

In the German federal election held on the 26th of last month, the SPD received 25.7% of the vote, and the CDU/CSU coalition received 24.1%, with the SPD winning by a margin of 1.6 percentage points. However, currently, both parties' chancellor candidates have declared their intention to lead the coalition government formation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.