Traffic light coalition is the most likely German majority

The three parties in Germany talking about a new coalition will present their coalition agreement this afternoon. The social democratic SPD, the Greens and the liberal FDP will give a press conference at 3 p.m. to explain the plans.

The agreement means that SPD leader Olaf Scholz is likely to be the new chancellor; the Bundestag will vote on it. He thus becomes the successor of Angela Merkel (CDU), who calls it quits after sixteen years. Her party suffered a huge loss in the parliamentary elections at the end of September, Merkel had already indicated that she did not want to be a candidate again.

The ‘traffic light coalition’, named after the party colors of the three parties, said earlier to focus on modernising the economy and ‘combating climate change’.

An exploratory document had already revealed some plans by the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. These included the early retirement of coal-fired power stations and the raising of the minimum wage, from 9.60 euros to 12 euros per hour.

Formal negotiations for a new coalition agreement began on 21 October. At the beginning of October, the chairman of the SPD expected a new government by December. The agreement still has to be approved by the members of the parties.

Since German reunification in 1990, it took between 30 and 171 days to form a new government. The record of longest formation was set in 2017.

59 days have passed since the Bundestag elections of 26 September. The length of the formation will increase a bit because the new government has not yet been presented.

The editor-in-chief worked for many years as a literary editor in Bern's leading publications. Over time, I decided to become the editor-in-chief. The main direction of materials is international relations and society.