BERLIN – The three negotiating parties to form Germany’s next government will finalize and present their coalition agreement on Wednesday, two of the potential partners said. The deal paves the way for centre-left leader Olaf Scholz to replace longtime Chancellor Angela Merkel in the coming weeks.
The centre-left Social Democrats have been negotiating with the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Liberal Democrats since winning the national election on September 26. The latter two parties said. The deal will be presented on Wednesday afternoon.
If party members sign it, the tripartite coalition – never before attempted in a national government – would replace the current “grand coalition” of the country’s traditional major parties. The Social Democrats have been the junior partner of Mrs. Merkel’s centre-right Christian Democrats.
Merkel, who has not run for a fifth term, is expected to succeed Scholz, 63, who has served as finance minister and deputy chancellor since 2018.
The three ruling parties will say they hope parliament will elect Scholz as prime minister the week of December 6. Before that can happen, the coalition deal requires approval from a ballot. of members of the Greens and from conferences of the other two. parties.
News of the deal came as Mrs. Merkel led her last Cabinet meeting. Scholz gave the 67-year-old man, who has led Germany since 2005, a bouquet of flowers.
Negotiations on tripartite alliance has been relatively harmonious and swift compared with previous coalition negotiations. But the political transition, with Merkel as a caretaker for the lame duck, has gotten in the way Germany’s response to the latest rise in coronavirus cases.
Several details have emerged from closed-door talks, including how the parties will split up ministerial portfolios. The coalition is a potentially offensive mixture because it brings together two traditionally left-leaning parties with one, the Liberal Democrats, which tend to align with the center-right.
ONE preliminary agreement last month indicated that Germany would set a deadline to end the use of coal power from 2038 to 2030, while expanding the deployment of renewable energy production.
At the insistence of the Liberal Democrats, potential partners have said they will not raise taxes or relax curbs to increase debt, making finance a central issue.
Merkel’s Christian Democrats are now preoccupied with a leadership contest See who will become their next leader and revive the fortunes of the party after the party suffered its worst election results ever.
