Breakthrough in exploratory talks on forming Berlin state government

The Left Party, the Greens and the Social Democrats (SPD) have successfully concluded their exploratory talks on forming a state government for the German capital Berlin, party sources told dpa, four weeks after the election.

Sources told dpa on Saturday that a proposal to begin formal coalition negotiations will now be put to the respective party executive committees. 

The Greens intend to decide on this at a small party conference on Monday. The SPD's regional executive committee is expected to make a decision based on the paper presented after the exploratory talks, though no date has yet been set.

The Left has not scheduled a party conference until October 31, due to two-week half-term holidays in Berlin. A decision will be taken then on whether to commence coalition negotiations. 

If all three parties give their approval, these negotiations could then begin in early November.

The three parties are set to give a joint press statement at 5 pm (1500 GMT). 

The exploratory talks began last Thursday after the three parties reached an agreement on how they intend to handle anti-Semitic incidents. The Greens and the SPD had made this agreement a prerequisite for starting exploratory talks, after criticism of parts of The Left's Berlin chapter over their positions on Israel and the Palestinians, and accusations that they have not done enough to tackle anti-Semitism.

The Left, which has firmly denied the accusations, emerged as the strongest party in the Berlin election on September 20, with 25.7% of the vote.