Scholz on course to become Chancellor as formal coalition talks begin

Berlin, Oct 15 (EFE).- The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Olaf Scholz, is on track to become the next chancellor of Germany at the head of a “coalition of progress”, after the leaders of the Greens and the liberal Freedom Party (FDP) agreed Friday to formally begin government coalition talks.

“This is a very good result,” Scholz said at a press conference in Berlin alongside his counterparts from the other parties, co-chairs of The Greens, Annalena Barboeck and Robert Habeck, and the leader of the Liberals, Christian Lindner.

“It makes clear that Germany can form a government that can achieve progress, progress that’s possible and necessary in many, many areas.”

“All three parties are in a position to push forward the most important industrial modernization project of the last 100 years,” Scholz said.

Ecological transformation and decarbonization will serve as the basis for the coalition negotiations.

The parties agreed to rule out a tax hike — one of the Liberals’ main goals — and hope to put forward an investment offensive and measures aimed at increasing social cohesion, including raising the minimum wage from 9.60 to 12 euros per hour.

Lindner said an alliance between the three parties represents a rare opportunity “to modernize society and the state”.

“Such an opportunity cannot be wasted. The big winner of an agreement will not be one or the other party but the country,” he said.

Lindner stressed that with the offensive for the decarbonization of the economy Germany “can become a model for Europe and for the world.”

Lindner, who was initially skeptical about the possibility of reaching an agreement with the Social Democrats and Greens because of the differences between the three parties, said he was “impressed” by how the talks have progressed.