There was speculation for days, now it’s official: the Social Democrats in Berlin want to start coalition negotiations with the election winner, the CDU. Black and red in the capital is becoming more and more likely. The Greens warn of a “regression coalition”.

The SPD in Berlin wants to start coalition negotiations with the election winner, the CDU. This was announced by board member Kevin Hönicke towards the end of a panel meeting on Twitter, two and a half weeks after the re-election to the House of Representatives. The SPD state executive decided that with 25 to 12 votes.

According to party circles, the CDU is also aiming for a government alliance with the SPD, which has governed with the Left and Greens since 2016. The German Press Agency learned that CDU top candidate Kai Wegner wanted to propose to the state executive committee that met on Thursday that coalition negotiations be started with the Social Democrats. A party spokesman said he would not comment on the process. This indicates a change of power in the capital, which is ruled by red-green-red, although the previous tripartite alliance would also have a majority in the new parliament.

If black and red work, Giffey, who has only been head of government since December 2021, would have to leave the town hall. In this case, the new governing mayor would be the CDU top candidate and party leader Wegner. The CDU last provided a head of government in Berlin with Eberhard Diepgen, who was in office from 1984 to 1989 and from 1991 to 2001. It is conceivable that the 44-year-old ex-Federal Minister for Family Affairs Giffey will take on a Senate post in a black-red coalition. There is speculation about a kind of “super ministry” with particular powers.

The Greens’ top candidate Bettina Jarasch criticized a possible two-party alliance between the SPD and the CDU. “The fact that the SPD and the CDU are now obviously opting for each other shows that what we always warned about during the election campaign is coming: a coalition going backwards,” she explained.

The CDU won the repeat election on February 12 with 28.2 percent. SPD and Greens both got 18.4 percent. With 53 votes, the Social Democrats only have a wafer-thin lead over the Greens. They did worse than ever in a House of Representatives election. The left came to 12.2 percent, the AfD to 9.1. The FDP flew with 4.6 percent from the parliament, which now has five instead of six parliamentary groups.

Since February 17, the parties have been exploring in exploratory talks whether there is a common basis for coalition negotiations and for forming a government. The CDU spoke three times each with the SPD and the Greens. SPD, Greens and Left also met three times.

The Berlin Constitutional Court declared the September 26, 2021 election invalid due to “serious systemic deficiencies” and numerous electoral errors. The court ordered a full retake. Nothing changes in the length of the five-year legislative period. So it ends in 2026.