Germany's SPD campaigns for coalition agreement ahead of party vote
Leaders of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) urged the party's rank and file to approve a high-stakes coalition agreement to form the next government in Berlin.
SPD leaders met for a conference in the northern city of Hanover on Monday as the party prepared to kick off a two-week online vote on the coalition agreement starting on Tuesday.
"I don't want us to shy away from the situation, and I want us to shape the future of this country," party co-leader Lars Klingbeil said in Hanover.
He warned party members against rejecting the coalition agreement. "If that fails, there will be new elections, or maybe there will be a minority government,' Klingbeil added.
He also pointed to voices within the conservative bloc - which came out on top in February's general election - calling for a normalization of relations with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which came second ahead of the SPD but which so far the other parties have refused to work with. "If we fail, they will become louder."
Party co-leader Saskia Esken also emphasized that in the new parliamentary term, it would be important for the new government to regain trust in democracy, which is being attacked by right-wing extremists. Some would speak of a "last chance," Esken warned.
Internal vote runs until April 29
From Tuesday, 358,000 SPD party members will be able to vote on the coalition agreement with the conservative bloc made up of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU).
An online platform is scheduled to be activated at 8 am (0600 GMT) on Tuesday for this purpose, and Social Democrats will be able to cast their votes on this platform until 11:59 pm on April 29. The result is due to be announced on April 30.
For the coalition agreement to be adopted, not only a majority of the votes is required, but also a participation rate of at least 20% of the members in the purely digital vote.
Coalition deal at stake
Klingbeil and Esken are led the centre-left party's negotiations with conservative leader Friedrich Merz's CDU/CSU bloc, which concluded with the publication of a 144-page coalition deal on Wednesday setting out a programme for the next four years.
The CSU has already approved the agreement, while the CDU are expected to do so in a small party conference on April 28.
The SPD's rank and file previously voted by wide margins to approve coalition agreements with the CDU/CSU in 2013 and 2017.
Opposition from SPD youth
But in a warning sign to Klingbeil and Esken, the SPD's youth wing - known as the Young Socialists - on Monday said it would advise its members to reject the deal.
"It's not enough for us," leader Philipp Türmer told broadcaster RTL/ntv.
Türmer said the agreement takes the wrong course on key issues such as asylum, work and social policy, while it lacks ambition on other topics such as taxation and finances.
He described the deal's financing proviso - which states that all the coalition's goals must be properly financed before they can be implemented - as a "ticking time bomb."
Pending SPD and CDU approval of the coalition agreement, the new German government under the incoming chancellor Merz is set to take office on May 6.
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