Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07HAMBURG38
2007-05-22 09:57:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Hamburg
Cable title:  

BREMEN'S SPD OPTS FOR A RED-GREEN COALITION

Tags:  PGOV PREL GM 
pdf how-to read a cable
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RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAG #0038 1420957
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 220957Z MAY 07
FM AMCONSUL HAMBURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0149
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0138
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHAG/AMCONSUL HAMBURG 0168
UNCLAS HAMBURG 000038 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/AGS
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL GM
SUBJECT: BREMEN'S SPD OPTS FOR A RED-GREEN COALITION

REF: A. A) HAMBURG 035

B. B) HAMBURG 031

UNCLAS HAMBURG 000038

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/AGS
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL GM
SUBJECT: BREMEN'S SPD OPTS FOR A RED-GREEN COALITION

REF: A. A) HAMBURG 035

B. B) HAMBURG 031


1. (U) Just a week after the state parliamentary elections,
Bremen's Social Democratic Party (SPD) leadership announced on
May 20 that it will seek to form a governing coalition with the
Greens, bringing an end to twelve years of a Social
Democratic-Christian Democratic (SPD-CDU) Grand Coalition. Jens
Boehrnsen (SPD) will continue as Mayor and President of the
Bremen Senate (Minister President). Bremen's new governing
coalition will be the first SPD-Greens coalition at the state
level since the end of the Red-Green Coalition in the North
Rhine-Westphalia 2005 state elections. Greens Party leadership
met on May 21 and decided to enter into coalition negotiations,
however Greens Deputy Caucus Leader Matthias Gueldner stated
that formal negotiations will begin after the Whit Monday
holiday (May 28) and should be concluded by the end of June.
Both the SPD and Greens will hold party conventions on May 24 to
formalize the decision.


2. (U) Prior to the SPD's announcement, CDU State Chairperson
Bernd Neumann announced that his party was planning to go into
the opposition. Bremen CDU leadership will hold a specialQeting on May 22 to "set the course for a powerful role as the
opposition" and redefine the party's profile in the city-state.
The new Red-Green Coalition is expected to focus more on social
issues, an area that plagued the Grand Coalition with several
scandals over the past year.


3. (SBU) The SPD's decision will affect the federal Grand
Coalition's two-thirds majority in the Bundesrat. While Bremen
only holds three seats in the Bundesrat, the federal SPD-CDU
coalition requires two of them to maintain the two-thirds
majority necessary for constitutional amendments. Such
decisions will now require that the SPD and CDU convince one of
the "neutral bloc" states in which a federal opposition party is
a coalition partner to support the legislation (Ref A).
Further, the May 20 announcement of the Red-Green Coalition is
yet another signal that the SPD may start turning to its left
flank in order to maintain its traditional voter base and appeal
to new voters in future elections.


4. (U) This message has been coordinated with Embassy Berlin.

BUTCHER