In Lower Saxony, red-green is facing a new edition: SPD and Greens reach an agreement in their coalition negotiations – the coalition agreement is to be presented on Tuesday. Prime Minister Stephan Weil of the SPD is about to enter his third term.
Three weeks after the state elections in Lower Saxony, the SPD and the Greens have concluded their coalition negotiations. It was “managed to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion today,” said the two national associations. The coalition agreement should therefore be presented on Tuesday.
SPD and Greens began negotiations shortly after the October 9 election. Both parties had already announced during the election campaign that they wanted to form a coalition. They governed Lower Saxony together between 2013 and 2017.
The current and designated future Prime Minister Stephan Weil of the SPD is to be confirmed in office in the constituent session of the state parliament on Tuesday next week. Before that, party congresses have to approve the result of the coalition negotiations. The SPD meets on Saturday and the Greens on Sunday.
So far, the SPD and the Greens have named some specific issues that they want to implement in the prospective government. These include a nationwide public transport ticket for schoolchildren or trainees for EUR 29 per month, a higher starting salary for many teachers or the founding of a state housing association with the aim of creating more affordable living space.
The SPD clearly won the state elections on October 9 with 33.4 percent. In his first term, Weil governed with the Greens. This was followed by an alliance with the CDU. With 14.5 percent, the Greens achieved their strongest result so far in a state election in the federal state – however, polls at times saw the party at around 20 percent. The CDU and AfD are expected to form the two opposition factions in the state parliament in Hanover – the FDP and the left failed to enter the state parliament.
