After a final round of coalition talks to form a new government, the Social Democratic Party SPD top candidate for chancellor Olaf Scholz delivers a statement on November 24, 2021 in Berlin, Germany. REUTERS Fabrizio Bensch File Photo
BERLIN, Nov 25, Reuters -- Three parties in Germany have struck a deal to form a new coalition government that will see Social Democrat Olaf Scholz replace the conservative Angela Merkel as chancellor. It will take some time for a handover of power. Social Democrats SPD ecologist Greens and Free Democrats FDP unveiled a vision of how to push through a green transition in Europe's biggest economy, speed up digitalisation and bring in some liberal social policies.
After the agreement was hammered out by working groups in the last few weeks, the leadership teams presented the 177-sided document on Wednesday. All three parties have to ratify the deal. This is a formality, as it is highly unlikely that members and delegates will reject it.
SPD delegates are due to vote on it at an extraordinary party conference on December 4.
The Greens are consulting their 125,000 members on the deal in a digital or postal balloting process that will take 10 days.
So far, only these posts are clear:
The SPD'S Scholz will be chancellor.
Robert Habeck, the Greens Co-leader, will be vice-chancellor and lead a beefed-up economy ministry with responsibility for climate policy.
The coalition deal states that the SPD will control a further seven cabinet posts, the Greens four more and the FDP a further three. Scholz is expected to be voted in as the chancellor by the Bundestag during the week of December 6, some 10 weeks after the federal election.
This would lead to Merkel falling short of the 5,870 days record number of days in office held by Helmut Kohl.