The top candidate and state chairwoman (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) wants to negotiate with Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) about forming a government.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf The CDU and the Greens officially want to start exploratory talks about a possible coalition in North Rhine-Westphalia. Bodies of both parties spoke out in favor of it on Sunday, as the CDU and Greens announced in the evening.
The CDU clearly won the state election a week ago with 35.7 percent of the vote. The Greens almost tripled their result compared to the 2017 election and became the third strongest force with 18.2 percent. So far, however, it has not been clear which parties want to form a government together.
Prime Minister and CDU top candidate Hendrik Wüst said on Sunday evening: “The conversation with the representatives of the Greens this week was very open and, in my opinion, also very constructive.” One now wants to explore whether there is a solid basis for coalition negotiations. In these times, NRW needs “a government that is both stable and ambitious at the same time,” said Wüst. “Not least in view of the turning point caused by the global pandemic and the war in Europe, we have to rethink many topics.”
Top candidate Mona Neubaur and state head Felix Banaszak jointly declared for the Greens on Sunday evening: “Arithmetically, both a coalition of CDU and Greens and a traffic light coalition are possible.”
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The CDU has signaled a very serious interest in forming a coalition, and the SPD is also available to form a government. “The FDP has made it clear that it is fundamentally available for further talks, but not at the present time, and that it sees the government mandate for the CDU and the Greens.” Therefore, they now want to go into exploratory talks with the CDU.
Also talks between the CDU and the SPD
If the talks are successful, “we will propose to our party that we enter into coalition negotiations,” explained Neubaur and Banaszak. As a coalition, the CDU and Greens would have a comfortable majority in the state parliament. After the conversation with Wüst on Wednesday, Neubaur had already said that the conversation was “pleasant, open and honest”.
Prime Minister Wüst made the intersections between the two parties clear on the evening of the election: He repeatedly emphasized that climate protection and jobs had to be brought together. This is the most important task.
Who goes into the exploratory talks for the CDU initially remained open on Sunday. The Greens have already named an “exploration team” of eleven people, including Neubaur and Banaszak.
Despite everything, on Monday (10 a.m.) the election winner Wüst and SPD state leader Thomas Kutschaty want to meet in the Düsseldorf state parliament in a small group for a working meeting. Head of the State Chancellery Nathanael Liminski (CDU) and the Secretary General of the NRW-SPD, Nadja Lüders, should also take part.
More: How Hendrik Wüst wants to convince the Greens