Brussels, 21/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The German social democrat SPD party is setting out its conditions for forming a government coalition with Angela Merkel's CDU.
“We will negotiate hard, with the objective of forming a government before Christmas”, promised SPD leader, Sigmar Gabriel, on Sunday 20 October after his party gave its green light to negotiations with the CDU to form the third German government led by Merkel.
The social democrats have formulated ten specific demands including the introduction of a minimum national salary of €8.50 per hour at national level; double nationality; taxation on financial transactions; restrictions on arms exports; the reform of German feudalism; the improvement of conditions for union of people of the same sex. The coalition contract with the CDU will have to be approved by members of the SPD, while the social democrat electoral base is still conscious of the serious failure of the 2009 parliamentary elections which were held at the end of the first Merkel government of governmental coalition.
The new Bundestag will meet in Berlin on Tuesday. (MB/transl.fl)