2nd party approves deal for Scholz’s new German government

Berlin, Dec. 6 (BNA): Germany’s pro-business Free Democrats approved on Sunday an agreement to form a new government that includes two center-left parties, which pushed Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz a step closer to assuming his position as the country’s new leader. week.

The Liberal Democrats reached an agreement last month to form a coalition with Schulz’s Social Democrats and the Green Greens, effectively crossing the aisle for a bipartisan alliance, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

“This is a coalition agreement of centrist politics, which will not turn our country to the left but wants to move forward,” party leader Christian Lindner said at a largely online party conference.

Delegates voted 535 to 37 to approve the agreement, with eight abstentions. After the Social Democrats overwhelmingly supported it on Saturday, only one hurdle remained before parliament could elect Schulz on Wednesday. That was the result of the Greens’ 125,000-member vote, expected on Monday – the biggest challenge to the deal but one expected to pass.

The new German government aims to step up efforts against climate change and do more to modernize the country, including improving mobile phone networks and the Internet, which are notoriously weak. It is also planning more liberal social policies, including legalizing the sale of cannabis for recreational purposes and easing the path to German citizenship, while pledging to make greater efforts to deport non-asylum migrants.

At the insistence of the Liberal Democrats, potential partners said they would not raise taxes or loosen restrictions on debt accumulation. Lindner is set to become Germany’s new finance minister, and the party will also get the ministries of transport, justice and education.

The Free Democrats ruled West Germany as the junior partner of the SPD under Chancellors Willie Brandt and Helmut Schmidt from 1969 to 1982. But since then, they have largely allied themselves with outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right union bloc.

However, the Union’s election defeat in September and the ensuing turmoil in the center-right bloc made the Triple Alliance led by Schulz a more realistic option.

Merkel, who remained in her position as interim chancellor while negotiating the new government, will step down this week after 16 years as Germany’s president. She did not seek re-election. Her party will now run in opposition.

MI