germanys spd at odds over coalition plan
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

After The Hard-Fought Deal

Germany's SPD at odds over coalition plan

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Germany's SPD at odds over coalition plan

Chancellor Angela Merkel
Frankfurt am Main - Arab Today

Leading members of Germany's Social Democrats voiced scepticism Sunday over a preliminary coalition agreement reached with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, days after the hard-fought deal was hailed as a breakthrough.

Berlin's SPD Mayor Michael Mueller said he was "very critical" about entering into another government with Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc after all three parties slumped to their worst results in decades in last September's election.

"The same coalition with the same policies is not the right answer," the centre-left politician told the Tagesspiegel daily, calling for "further talks" to win more concessions on key SPD demands.

Party leaders on Friday announced after tortuous negotiations that they had signed off on a policy blueprint paving the way for formal coalition discussions to begin after months of paralysis in Europe's top economy.

In the 28-page document, the parties agreed to join France in a push to "strengthen and reform" the eurozone, to limit the influx of asylum seekers to Germany to around 200,000 a year, and to refrain from tax hikes.

But Mueller lamented the SPD's failure to secure a tax hike for the rich or a restructuring of the country's two-tier health care system -- two major campaign pledges.

Those concerns were echoed by the SPD's Malu Dreyer, premier of Rhineland-Palatinate state, who also slammed the compromise to cap immigration.

The migration stance outlined in the roadmap was "very difficult" for the SPD, she told the German newspaper group Funke Mediengruppe.

- 'No GroKo' -

The criticism will make for uncomfortable reading for SPD chief Martin Schulz, who has promised to give party members the last word on a third stint as Merkel's junior coalition partner.

In a sign of the difficulties ahead, SPD delegates at a regional party conference in Saxony-Anhalt on Saturday narrowly voted against starting formal coalition talks.

Spiegel news weekly said the non-binding vote was "hugely symbolic" coming just a day after the in-principle agreement "that Schulz is trying to sell as a success".

The stakes will be higher next Saturday, when 600 party delegates will be asked to give the green light at a congress, followed by a final vote by more than 400,000 rank-and-file members.

The SPD's youth wing chief Kevin Kuehnert has vowed to spend the coming days criss-crossing the country to press his case against a new grand coalition, known as "GroKo" in German political shorthand.

Top conservative lawmaker Alexander Dobrindt of Merkel's Bavarian CSU sister party urged Schulz to nip the potential revolt in the bud.

"Martin Schulz must now show that the SPD can be a reliable coalition partner and get this brouhaha under control," Dobrindt told the Bild am Sonntag daily.

The SPD initially vowed to go into opposition after scoring a humiliating 20.5 percent in the September ballot.

But former EU Parliament chief Schulz faced pressure to reconsider after Merkel's efforts to forge a government with two smaller parties collapsed in November.

Merkel, whose political life is on the line after more than 12 years in power, has welcomed the coalition blueprint as "a fresh start" for Germany and Europe.

Commentators however have already described a possible repeat of the left-right alliance as a "coalition of losers".

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

germanys spd at odds over coalition plan germanys spd at odds over coalition plan

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

germanys spd at odds over coalition plan germanys spd at odds over coalition plan

 



GMT 20:53 2018 Monday ,22 October

PM Imran Khan to leave for Saudi Arabia today

GMT 08:20 2018 Tuesday ,16 January

Lamborghini races to new sales record

GMT 00:19 2017 Wednesday ,13 December

Switzerland chainsaw attack: 5 hurt in Schaffhausen

GMT 09:51 2017 Tuesday ,07 November

Broadcom makes $130 bn mega-bid

GMT 20:53 2017 Tuesday ,07 March

Syrian forces retake Aleppo water-pumping station

GMT 11:15 2017 Monday ,01 May

Hanan Metawe reveals details of her accident

GMT 03:07 2017 Monday ,27 March

Bulgaria's Borisov bounces back again

GMT 22:18 2017 Thursday ,16 November

Hariri to arrive in France Saturday to meet Macron

GMT 06:43 2017 Monday ,13 February

Pakistan retaliates after US denies politician visa

GMT 07:49 2017 Tuesday ,28 November

Hussein Fahmy underlines financial sources
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday