Berlin, November 3rd, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – While the far-left “Die Linke” (the Left Party), the left-wing Greens and the center-left SPD negotiate a coalition, the conservative CDU has asked for a meeting of its own.
CDU leader Stefan Evers, who is also Berlin’s Finance Senator, invited representatives of the Greens and the SPD for talks on Tuesday. He said he wanted to address the current political situation and upcoming Senate decisions. In an interview with public broadcaster RBB, he added that he wanted to offer both parties exploratory talks.
That offer appears to find little interest. Representatives of the Greens and the SPD had made clear beforehand that they were not looking for exploratory talks. They want to speak with Evers about the transition until a new Senate is in place.
Resistance in the SPD
“Die Linke”, the Greens and the SPD began their coalition negotiations on Monday, after all three had voted to start them. According to German-language publications, Left Party parliamentary leader Elif Eralp described the first day as “very good”. The 24-member leadership group talked for almost seven hours, mostly about the state budget.
The parties want to raise at least 400 million Euro more in revenue every year. The group is due to meet again on tomorrow, on Wednesday. Fourteen working groups are to take up the details of individual policy areas, starting by the end of this week or Monday at the latest.
Within the SPD, however, resistance is growing. An appeal called “Not at Any Price” has been signed by about 1,288 party members across Germany, including Pistorius, former Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and former party leader Sigmar Gabriel. Among the prominent signatories from Berlin are Economic Affairs Senator Franziska Giffey and former state party chairman Martin Hikel. The text refers to incidents related to antisemitism within “Die Linke” in Berlin.
State and Police
Giffey says on Instagram that the initiative brings together SPD members who fundamentally reject a coalition under the leadership of the Left Party. She also names the party’s “contradictory and in parts disturbed” relationship with the state, the police and the armed forces as a reason.
Last week, she had already announced that she would not take part in the coalition talks. The initiative wants to vote “No” in the SPD’s planned member vote on a red-green-red coalition.
