Regierungsbildung in Berlin: Rot-Grün-Rot sondiert nach Einigung zu Antisemitismus

Two and a half weeks after the Berlin election, the Left, Green, and SPD parties began talks on coalition formation. The three parties aimed to convene "continuously" to reach a result as quickly as possible, said Left Landesvorsitzende Kerstin Wolter to journalists. They were ready to take joint responsibility for the city. Negotiations are not yet coalition negotiations.

The parties are still undecided on what points are most important to them and whether coalition negotiations would be successful. The duration of the talks is open and they could also fail. Agreement on antisemitism came after a last heated discussion about the topic of antisemitism and gang criminality. The Green and SPD had made such an agreement a condition for the start of the talks.

The background is several incidents involving the Left, which caused concern among potential coalition partners. The joint statement says, "We protect Jewish life, strengthen coexistence, and work towards peace and understanding." The existence of Israel is "non-negotiable." The parties agree that the fight against antisemitism, racism, and anti-Gypsyism should be included in the constitution.

The agreement also states that violations of the principles decided at party or faction level regarding antisemitism will result in consequences, up to and including expulsion. The factions are to agree on the consequences within their own responsibility. They also agreed to avoid contact with organized crime and to punish violations.

Members of the Senate, mandate holders, and faction members of the parties are to keep a clear distance from people and groups attributed to organized crime. The agreement is said to be unprecedented in Germany. The SPD faction chief Steffen Krach said they now have maximum security that there would be no place for antisemitism in the Senate and the factions.

The Green faction leader Werner Graf called it "an unusual procedure" but a necessary one. The Left faction leader Kerstin Wolter said it was a "question of society that the city takes very seriously" and about "gaining credibility." However, German-Israeli Society President Volker Beck criticized the agreement as a promise against any form of antisemitism without much clarity.

Green party leader Franziska Brantner called for personnel consequences in the Left. CDU Landes- and Fraktionsvorsitzender Stefan Evers said the agreement was "a fig leaf that primarily serves to cover up the antisemitism problem of the Left party." The Left party presented no effective mechanism against Jew hatred, but a collection of self-evident statements.

The party, led by Co-Fraktionsvorsitzende Elif Eralp, aims for a government in Berlin. The Left, which won the September 20th election with 25.7 percent, could become the first party to have a female mayor in Berlin if a coalition is formed. Some sections of the Left in Berlin have been under criticism for their positions on Israel-Palestine and antisemitism, especially due to a party meeting in Neukölln on September 20th where a leading member of a partly criminal clan and an controversial pro-Palestinian activist were present.

The Bundestagsabgeordnete (member of the Bundestag) is also under pressure due to contacts with a so-called Clan-Milieu.